Rangers duo Bruno Alves and Graham Dorrans made their Ibrox debuts last weekend.
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha has told the club’s official website that he was impressed with how Bruno Alves and Graham Dorrans stated their Ibrox careers.
Rangers played out a 1-1 draw with Marseille on Saturday afternoon, as Niko Kranjcar’s superb long-range free kick cancelled out Valere Germain’s opener for the visitors.
Fans and manager Caixinha will certainly have taken more positives from the draw than the disastrous Europa League defeat to Progres Niederkorn, with the Gers boss keen to bed in his new signings.
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha
Whilst the likes of Ryan Jack, Fabio Cardoso and Dalcio have been around the squad for weeks, Saturday was the first chance major additions Bruno Alves and Graham Dorrans had been able to play together.
Defender Alves had been given a break having represented Portugal at the Confederations Cup in Portugal earlier this summer, whilst Dorrans is finally starting his Rangers career having completed his protracted move from Norwich.
The experienced duo are seen as two of the key players in Caixinha’s Ibrox revolution, and supporters will have been delighted to finally catch a glimpse of the pair in action for Rangers.
After the final whistle, manager Caixinha told the club’s official website that he wants Alves to be a leader on the pitch, and he was happy with how the 36-year-old performed against Marseille.
Caixinha added that he thought Dorrans was ‘great’ in midfield, and whilst the pair are building up their fitness levels, the Rangers boss appears content with how their Ibrox debuts panned out.
Graham Dorrans celebrates scoring for Norwich
“I really want Bruno to represent me on the pitch, definitely. That’s one situation that I’ve been talking with him about and he’s going to do it very easily,” said Caixinha. “Bruno, when he just touched the first ball against Marseille, everybody was happy with him, everybody was happy with his leadership. He’s a great boy, a great man that this club needs, especially having at the back that sort of leadership and experience and understanding of the game.”
“Dorrans in the middle of the park did great. Both of them are not of course at the best fitness level, we need to put them up to that in the next two weeks. But only by understanding the game and understanding what it really means to play for this great club they can make the difference,” he added.
What did you think of Alves and Dorrans’ displays against Marseille?
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