‘It was only a friendly’ (albeit is there any need for that prefix given some Bears think the loss to Tranmere is the end of the world) but nevertheless in this piece we want to look at the debut of new signing John Lundstram.

It was only a friendly It was only a friendly It was only a friendly It was only a friendly It was only a friendly…..

Ok now that’s out of the way how did the new boy do?

By some distance he was the most imposing player on the pitch till he went off. He was neat, tidy, comfortable, good range of passing, powerful on the ball, and extremely physical where need be.

It was, of course, his first 45 in our shirt, but while the circumstances weren’t hyper-demanding, he will be pleased with how his maiden voyage for the Famous went.

He looked particularly comfortable alongside Steven Davis, whose experience and leadership clearly helped him a great deal, and gave him freedom to play his own game.

He was good at feeding the channels, particularly to the right with….well… Wright, and never looked hurried or pressured even when he was being pressed.

In many ways, he’s like a more physical and bigger version of Davo himself, and there’s little we can say to complain about that.

There’s a school of thought that ‘wish we had Davo 10 years ago’. Well, back then, he wasn’t the player he is now – time and maturity have given his game a completely new dimension to what he had first time around. Simply put he’s twice the player he was when he left.

Well, Lundstram, at 27, already looks a player of Davis’ ilk, and he’s got a good 10+ years in the game, so he’s nailed the timing.

We won’t judge too much, because this was about fitness, but if his reading, positioning, running and passing in this friendly was in any way indicative of what Rangers fans can anticipate in competitive football, it will only further justify one of the best signings Steven Gerrard appears to have made.

Nice.