This unbelievable Rangers stat will stun fans

Hot on the heels of manager Steven Gerrard’s accurate testimony of Rangers’ lack of killer instinct is a worrying stat which not only backs the manager up, but which implies not even the presence of Alfredo Morelos makes a difference in certain circumstances, which is of deep concern.

On Sunday, Daniel Candeias did something no other Rangers player had done for 453+ minutes – he scored from open play.

A genuinely disconcerting notion to realise that not even the presence of Morelos in the majority of the previous five matches had seen a single goal netted from open play despite the attempts otherwise.

It’s a huge area of focus for Rangers right now – that not only are Rangers struggling to make good chances, but the ones we are making in open play are not being taken.

Rangers, thankfully, are in a reasonable position in the league, with a conditional second place with uneven numbers of games played, but Gerrard knows only too well that his men are not making enough chances in open play, and certainly aren’t burying them when they do.

It’s a far cry from the demolition of Motherwell which saw a glut of open play goals, because those have dried up alarmingly and with suddenly in-form Hibs on the Wednesday horizon, Rangers will have to up their game dramatically from the workmanlike display against Hamilton if they are to secure a crucial three points at a venue they’ve struggled at for seasons.

And scoring from open play is absolutely critical in doing so.