Steven Gerrard praises Borna Barisic’s form this season

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Rangers defender Borna Barisic finally looks to be thriving at Ibrox.

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has admitted to The Scottish Sun that he feels his players are now showing more love to left back Borna Barisic.

The Gers swooped to sign Barisic from Osijek in 2018, after he impressed in two Europa League qualifying game against Rangers.

Of course, Rangers will have watched him in more games than those two fixtures against Gerrard’s men, but his impressive displays against them won’t have hurt.

Arriving as a Croatian international, there were high hopes for Barisic, but after a bright start to life at Ibrox, he ended up enduring a frustrating campaign last season.

Barisic struggled to nail down a first-team place under Gerrard last season, and after a woeful display on the final day of last season, many assumed he would be heading out of Ibrox over the summer.

That didn’t happen, and whilst Jon Flanagan has played at times this season, including in the Old Firm derby, Barisic has mostly established himself as the first-choice left back with a series of superb performances alongside dead ball accuracy.

Gerrard has now praised Barisic, believing that he is more comfortable in the Rangers dressing room, and thinks the rest of the squad have been showing him more love this season.

Gerrard added that Barisic has simply gone to another level this season, noting that ‘the penny has dropped’ for the left back and he deserves all the praise coming his way after a strong start to the campaign.

“Borna is feeling more comfortable in the dressing room, the players are showing him more love,” said Gerrard. “His confidence is coming from within the dressing room, from his performances in training and he has just gone to another level. I have always known the level was there. When we recruited him, we watched a lot of him and obviously saw him first-hand against us as well.”

“We’ve seen it when players come from other countries, some take longer than others to settle and really feel at home. He is in a fantastic place but he deserves the credit for it because he is the one who has pushed himself. The penny has dropped about what we want from him. All the praise which has been coming his way, he deserves it all because he has been really consistent,” he added.