Ryan Hardie deserves a senior call-up for Ibrox side Glasgow Rangers this month.
With Bruno Alves and Lee Wallace out injured, it is imperative for Pedro Caixinha’s future at Rangers that no more of his heavy hitters are sidelined.
The under-pressure Portuguese manager gave himself a bit of breathing space by masterminding a 4-1 win at Hamilton as Rangers go into the international break on a high following a testing few weeks which included a defeat by Celtic at Ibrox.
But Caixinha is far from out of the woods and rotation will be key in the coming weeks as the Gers aim to balance their League Cup and Premiership commitments.
The Ibrox club clash with Motherwell in a League Cup semi-final on October 22.
The 46-year-old has been using his best players in that competition but, with huge matches against Kilmarnock and Hearts set to follow in the six days after that one, Caixinha should blend youth with experience in order to preserve some big names.
And does Ryan Hardie deserve a chance to be included?
The 20-year-old hitman scored a hat-trick in an Under-20 game against Brentford reserves this past weekend and with Kenny Miller frozen out of first-team duties for now, a hungry Hardie – who has played 18 minutes of senior football – will be desperate to make a good impression.
Hypothetically, if Alfredo Morelos starts and gets injured, like Alves did in the previous round, then Rangers are goosed. The Colombian has eight goals in 10 games since joining from HJK Helsinki in the summer.
Caixinha needs to exercise a bit of caution and – let’s face it – Hardie can’t be less impressive than Eduardo Herrera. He deserves a shot.
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