These three key men could make a big difference in January

The January window is upon us as fans look forward to seeing what new blood comes through the door and what dead wood leaves by the same measure.

However, another facet of the winter window is the potential return of loanees who are performing well at their present club, having been seen as surplus or otherwise in the summer.

Ibrox Noise takes you through three notable players who could well make a big difference from January onwards as loans get potentially cut short.

Carlos Pena:

He’s back. His deal in South America was terminated and some fans are willing to give the Mexican a second chance. We discussed it in recent times on the site, and there’s no doubt we lack a goalscoring midfielder, and given we’re paying his wages, unless he goes out on loan somewhere else, we might as well make the use of the guy. There’s a player in here, if Stevie can just fine-tune him.

Joe Dodoo:

He’s having a reasonable time at Blackpool is young Joe, given he’s (still) playing out of position on the wing – he scored an absolute corker against Accrington recently and we cannot help but feel he’d be waaaaaay better used centrally. The guy is very much the mould of a Luis Suarez type – that central solo striker who can do most things himself and bring others in too. Could Stevie solve his striker issues by deploying this lad again?

Greg Docherty:

Word is he will be coming back in January. Rangers don’t lack for defensive midfielders, but with Coulibaly’s July form a distant memory we don’t want to rely on him. Jordan Rossiter too has a while to go before he’s fully up to speed. He’s got two years to catch up on – but Docherty is in stunning form at Shrewsbury and SG is said to have been impressed with him. We can’t see anything other than his return.

Honourable mentions:

Jason Holt has done a decent wee job at Fleetwood, but he just isn’t of the level to deliver what Rangers need. He will likely stay down south. Lee Hodson is also doing a fine job in Paisley, but again, he’s not going to push James Tavernier any time soon.

Hope one, two or even more of these lads will come back in January and give Stevie even stronger options.