Jack can be ace in the pack for Gers and Scots

STEVEN GERRARD won 114 England caps but might just have done his first big turn for the Scotland national team.

Ryan Jack cut a frustrated figure in his first season at Rangers when he was red-carded four times although two were later rescinded.

The former Aberdeen captain is no midfield enforcer and if our refs twice got it wrong it’s only, in part, because he looks ungainly in the tackle.

He won’t snarl in the face of opposition defences like Scott Brown but if he maintains his early-season form he could easily become a replacement for the Celtic skipper in the heart of Alex McLeish’s midfield.

If there is a valid criticism of Jack he needs to become more physically robust when dealing with the slings and arrows of midfield combat.

That shuddering clatter from Stevie May a couple of weeks ago kept him out for the next two matches although he’s in line to return in Maribor.

A slightness of frame will always leave him more susceptible – Cedric Kipre’s shocking tackle in December, when the Motherwell man left the boot in, cost Jack the second half of the season.

He may have work to do on his 50-50s but few Scottish players of his generation read the game more cleverly or have a better awareness of how the action will play out around him in two or three passes.

Dylan McGeouch comes close but may have compromised his international ambitions in the short term by moving down to League One with Sunderland.

Jack, on the other hand, appears to have been injected with a new-found confidence on the back of turning out with more assured players and the fulsome praise of Gerrard, who knows a thing or two about running midfields, ringing in his ears.

Capped once for his country, against Holland last November, Jack has the potential to become a mainstay for McLeish.

Rangers could have done with him in that 25-minute spell against the Slovenians last week when they lost a grip on midfield and conceded a goal that may yet prove costly in their chances of qualifying for the play-off round.

Jack’s been a calming presence in possession for Rangers and his work off the ball, while never as eye-catching, has proved every bit as crucial.

Maribor exploited holes in the Gers midfield as Lassana Coulibaly was left to try to plug gaps created by the failure of his team to keep possession or find a creative and killer pass in the final third.

Always available to make and take a pass,

Fulsome praise from Gerrard has helped give Ryan new-found confidence

Jack would have brought authority in his position as midfield anchor. The spaces might not have been so easily found by the Slovenians as he patrolled their areas of maximum impact around the Ibrox penalty box.

The presence of Jack alongside Coulibaly in the Ljudski Vrt Stadium could be crucial to Gers’ hopes of progressing to within 180 minutes of the group stage and a likely £10million windfall.

Maribor will throw everything at Rangers in the first quarter of the match in a bid to score first and unsettle them.

Gerrard needs Jack in the heart of his engine room, denying them space and frustrating their forward efforts. Keep him fit and Rangers could be flying.

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