With Rangers’ form the way it is, supporters could be forgiven for forgetting about one or two players who have been injured or out for some time, and one of the most notable names in that boat is of course Abdallah Sima.

The Senegal international’s injury in Africa was regarded as a huge blow, with Rangers losing all his goals for the foreseeable future.

Thing is, he hasn’t been missed a jot, and things have changed for Rangers and Sima.

Ibrox Noise was definitively on record as saying take away Sima’s goals, and a little speck of defending, and he had little to offer.

He was second only to Lawrence Shankland for being dispossessed or losing the ball in the SPL, and while that stat has of course changed due to his being out, it doesn’t alter the fact at the time.

Sima is absolutely tragic on the ball, he’s horrible in possession, and while his talent clearly is finding the net and very clinically at that, he does it via the false 9 position.

He sits on the left wing, ruining pretty much everything that happens around him, before unexpectedly sneaking into the 18-yard area and battering home a goal because no one sought to pick him up.

Now we have Oscar Cortes, with bags of talent, goals and assists, who is in every way a 20x better player than Sima.

In just 300 minutes of football the Colombian has a goal and 2 assists, which means a valid goal contribution every 100 minutes. That’s effectively a 1 in 1 rate.

And his polish, possession, pace and all-round game is a mile better.

Things have unfortunately changed for Sima, and he’s no longer the miss he was.

Now, this is not to say it’s over for him at Rangers.

We do need depth, and with all the football still to be played this season Sima still has something to offer if he can get fit before the end of the campaign. He is certainly another goalscoring option, even if Cortes and Dessers have rather reduced his indispensability.

We signed Cortes because of Sima’s injury, and he’ll be cursing his luck that his replacement model is not only better, but Dessers’ goals are covering his and then some.

Bear in mind also, Sima doesn’t assist. Barely at all. He’s made 2 in his 33 appearances this season. For a winger he doesn’t create much.

Cortes already has two inside 300 minutes. Can’t compare here.

So what does it all mean? It means manager Philippe Clement doesn’t need Sima like he did, and Rangers are actually stronger in his absence.

It really means if Sima is to stand a chance of staying here next season, he will need to be more than just goals going forward. And that’s ideal – if the intense competition now at Rangers thanks to Cortes’ arrival means Sima ups his game and brings more that’s all the better. He needs to earn a deal if he’s to remain in Govan.

Question is that we’re not sure the boy has the game to add much more than what he has – but that’s up to him to prove us wrong.

It remains in the hands of Philippe Clement.