McInnes must bench Rangers star who left Bouanani fuming against Dundee

Glasgow Rangers were left frustrated on Saturday night as they missed out on the chance to move to the top of the Scottish Premiership table.

The Light Blues would have moved to the top of the division if they had secured all three points, but they had to settle for a 2-2 draw away at Dundee.

REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

Derek McInnes‘ side had 60% of the ball and took 21 shots to Dundee’s ten on the night, yet they were unable to force home a winner after Callum Jones’ equaliser in the 69th minute.

There were some positives to take from the match, despite the draw, for the Gers, though, as Badredine Bouanani took his chance to impress on the right flank.

Why Badredine Bouanani is now undroppable for Rangers

After coming off the bench in the previous three matches, the Algeria international was provided with the opportunity to shine from the start on Saturday night.

REUTERS/Heiko Becker

The Stuttgart loanee started on the right side of the attack and provided a constant and varied threat, cutting inside onto his left foot and going on the outside onto his right foot to cause the full-back problems.

Bouanani’s standout moment of the match was, of course, his goal to make it 1-1 before half-time. He cut inside onto his favoured foot and curled a sublime effort into the top corner, albeit with the aid of a slight deflection.

The 21-year-old wide player came close to replicating that moment in the second half when he sent another brilliant effort towards the top corner, only for Owen Goodman to produce a fantastic stop to push the ball away from goal.

Bouanani should, now, be considered undroppable ahead of the upcoming matches in the Premiership, as he added something different to the attack and looked like a constant threat on the wing.

4/10 Rangers star must have left Bouanani fuming

Whilst the Algerian magician took his chance to impress at Dens Park, several players failed to step up to the mark for the Scottish giants on Saturday.

In fact, the player who played directly behind Bouanani must have left the winger fuming at the quality of his performance, as Dujon Sterling struggled at right-back.

The English defender started at full-back behind the Stuttgart loanee and failed to provide the required quality with the ball at his feet to break down Dundee.

Instead of giving Bouanani the ball at every opportunity to maximise the creativity that he was showing on the flank, Sterling took it upon himself to force the issue too many times.

REUTERS/Craig Brough

The former Chelsea man kept pushing the ball down the line to put crosses into the box, but the lack of quality and accuracy on his deliveries into the box meant that it was not an effective tactic.

Sterling attempted eight crosses across the 90 minutes and only one of them found a teammate, as he created one chance from 79 touches of the ball and lost possession a whopping 19 times without creating a ‘big chance’.

The 26-year-old full-back must have left Bouanani fuming because he could have played more passes to the winger, to allow him to capitalise on his strong performance, instead of forcing so many underwhelming crosses into the box.

On top of his wasteful play with the ball at his feet, Sterling also made a big error for the opening goal of the game when he underhit a poked back pass to Ivor Pandur, which allowed Bradley Fink to race onto the pass and score.

Now, McInnes should drop the experienced Rangers man from the starting line-up to bring Kosta Nedeljković in against St. Johnstone next time out in the Premiership next weekend.

Sterling did not do enough offensively to support Bouanani effectively and made a huge error for Fink’s goal, which is why he could lose his place in the team for the next game.

REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

Rotating the Englishman out of the side also helps to manage his fitness and ensure that he does not get overloaded and sustain injuries, to make sure that he is consistently available throughout the season.