PEDRO PLEA FOR PENA PATIENCE

Caixinha says Rangers fans will soon see £2m star pitched into battle

THE biggest investment of an active summer of transfer dealings has yet to deliver a return for Rangers. Pedro Caixinha remains adamant, however, that Carlos Pena will soon make a substantial impact on the Premiership.

The Mexican midfielder’s lack of action has increasingly become a talking point among Ibrox fans left restless by an unconvincing start to the league season. Signed from Guadalajara for a fee reputedly in excess of £2million, Pena’s sole contribution to date is a 25-minute substitute appearance in the 3-2 home defeat by Hibernian.

The 27-year-old has 19 caps for his country. In the best seasons of his career, he has been effective in breaking from midfield to score.

So far, though, he has not been considered ready to deliver that potential benefit in Glasgow.

Incision between the lines was a trait Rangers were sorely lacking last weekend. A stalemate against an obdurate Hearts outfit saw Caixinha’s side booed from the field by sections of the Ibrox crowd.

Despite being available, Pena remained on the bench. Young forward Ryan Hardie and Niko Kranjcar were instead introduced. Neither could make the difference.

That result against the Jambos has intensified the scrutiny on Caixinha ahead of Sunday’s visit to Dingwall. Already five points adrift of Aberdeen, St Johnstone and Celtic, the Portuguese boss needs to sweep aside Ross County to provide some buoyancy during the subsequent international break.

It remains to be seen whether Pena will be actively involved in the Highlands. Earlier this month, Caixinha revealed the player had been placed on a special training programme to reach ‘the right rhythm and levels’.

He insists Pena is up to speed with the rest of the squad. He argued, however, that it was now about picking the right time for him to prove his worth on the pitch.

‘You know that sometimes when you organise the squad or the list of the players that go from one game, you look at the options you have on the bench to change the course of the game,’ said Caixinha.

‘Because we had two subs on the last game, we saw how the game was going and I thought about Pena in the last ten minutes, but I saw that the team was getting there and just making one chance, so I don’t want to do it.

‘Carlos is working hard and (fellow Mexican Eduardo) Herrera. I know them well and know they are going to help us and do very well in Scottish football.

‘We just need to know the exact moment to release them. I think that they are at the same level as the others at the moment.’

One alteration to last weekend’s midfield could be enforced.

Caixinha is worried about the readiness of Josh Windass, who was replaced by Kranjcar after a rib knock against Hearts.

‘We have some concerns about Josh,’ Caixinha told the Rangers website. ‘He felt something on the rib when he landed on the knee of the opponent.

‘So we need to know what is going on along the week. Maybe he cannot be able to be with us. All the rest of the players are available for Ross County.’

Pressure will unquestionably be present in Dingwall against a team who have previously done Rangers few favours. Last season, all three meetings with Jim McIntyre’s side ended in draws. The last of those, a 1-1 at Ibrox on February 4, was Mark Warburton’s final game in charge.

There could, however, be some comfort for Caixinha on the road. So far, his league record away from Ibrox has encompassed wins at Pittodrie, Firhill, McDiarmid Park and Fir Park. A goalless draw at Rugby Park last term is the only break in that record.

In contrast, the eight league games of his tenure at Ibrox include a 5-1 rout from Celtic and further losses to Aberdeen and Hibernian. The draw with Hearts followed a similar outcome at home to Motherwell in April.

As the start to this campaign has underlined, improving fortunes inside the G51 postcode will be essential if Caixinha is to convince doubters he can succeed at Rangers.

‘I can tell you that I don’t like too much statistics,’ he added. ‘Sometimes I use them only when they are in our favour, but since we arrived in all the league games we’ve played away we have drawn one, against Kilmarnock.

‘We look forward to the next match which is the most important and we expect the same from all the opponents.

‘When they play against Rangers they don’t play 100 per cent, they play 200 per cent.

‘But the most important thing for us is our team. We are seeing a team that has a strong identity and one team that fights from start to end.

‘If we have that, and with the quality of players we have, we know we are going to start winning and winning games in a row.’

“We need to know the right moment to release Pena and Herrera”