Partnership excites boss

STEVEN GERRARD is confident summer signings Kemar Roofe and Cedric Itten can form a potent partnership after starting together for the 2-0 win over Kilmarnock.

Roofe marked the occasion with his first goal since joining from Anderlecht, while Itten produced an accomplished performance as Brandon Barker also made the most of his chance to impress in the Ibrox attack.

While Roofe operated mainly through the middle, Itten was used in a wider role at stages of the game, with the two linking up well.

Gerrard was encouraged by what he saw as Ryan Kent also found the target to continue Rangers’ unbeaten start in the Premiership.

He said: “The idea wasn’t for him [Itten] to be a wide 10 – we wanted him to play as a right nine.

“We knew the leftback was really small and we knew we were going to get into certain areas and get it wide to Borna [Barisic], and we thought if we can keep loading the box with crosses, maybe we can get in at the back post.

“He [Itten] is not a rightsided player for sure, he is a number nine, but with work and with time, I think he and Roofe can strike up a really nice partnership.

“He [Roofe] is very clever, and I think that is the reason why he is so unpredictable to play against as he can run in behind, but he is actually comfortable coming to link the game as well.

“That is the exciting thing. If he comes short, Cedric can run in behind and vice-versa.

“They are both comfortable with their back to play and they are both good in the air. He hit the post with a fantastic header and we have two of the best crossers in the league. “The second half, we did tweak it slightly. We put Brandon more to the right and we said to Itten, be a bit more of a nine with more purpose, and I just thought, all round, we went out in the second half with more intent and I think we got our reward for that.”