Rangers winger Scott Wright had to settle for a place on the bench in tonight’s Scottish Cup clash with St. Johnstone at Ibrox – and Gers boss Steven Gerrard was right to stick with the stars who have got the Light Blues so far this season even though Wright has impressed recently.
Wright lost his place in the starting XI to Ianis Hagi for the quarter-final win against Callum Davidson’s side, despite Gerrard speaking highly of him in recent days and hinting that he was in line to start.
With the Gers looking to take a big step towards a domestic double with a win over the Saints, opting to go with Hagi rather than Wright was the correct decision with the Ibrox boss knowing excactly what he’s going to get from the Romanian.
Before tonight, Hagi had scored seven times and contributed 12 assists from 41 appearances and the Rangers number 7 has previously shown that knack of being able to produce a bit of magic and open games up.
Despite Hagi not actually having that good of a game either, it keeps that carrot in front of players like Wright that they still need to earn their place in the starting XI.
It took the Light Blues much of the opening 30 minutes to really get their rhythm but once they did find their stride, the Gers looked like they were going to grab the lead but the sides somehow went in level.
Wright would eventually come off the bench, replacing Hagi with a little under 25 minutes left of the 90, and the winger looked to have the bit between his teeth as he started brightly.
He couldn’t help Rangers break the deadlock in normal time though, going very close near the end as both sides looked to keep their domestic double dreams alive.
Skipper James Tavernier thought he had sealed Rangers’ place in the last four with a 116th-minute header before Saints keeper Zander Clark’s header was knocked in by Chris Kane in injury time as the game went to penalties.
Saved spot kicks from Tavernier and Kemar Roofe saw the Light Blues knocked out of the Scottish Cup at the same stage for the third year in a row.
Wright does look to have an important future ahead of him at Ibrox and there will be more opportunities for him before the season ends.
The remaining league games will likely see him given more minutes with nothing but pride at stake between now and the final league game of the season.
In other news, ‘Man mountain’: Ramsdale says Sheffield Utd have a player who’s even stronger than Sander Berge
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
