WATCH HIM GO
Morelos ‘can be an Ibrox goal machine’
RANGERS boss Pedro Caixinha last night hailed Alfredo Morelos for breaking his Ibrox duck — and predicted many more goals to come from the Colombian striker.
Morelos scored his first two goals for rangers as they swept into the Betfred Cup quarter-finals — where they will be away to Partick Thistle — at the expense of Championship opponents Dunfermline.
Speaking after a 6-0 win at Ibrox, Caixinha singled out the £1million signing — picked up from HJK Helsinki in the summer — for praise.
And he confidently asserted that the striker will add to his tally before long, declaring: ‘That’s just two goals in a long career of scoring many more goals for rangers.
‘Strikers live on goals. It’s important for him. The levels of confidence make a difference to him.
‘I think what really pleased me is the
anger and the passion he played with. He fought for every ball, he was always fighting. And he was in the right place to score twice.’ Kenny Miller, James Tavernier, Bruno Alves and Daniel Candeias — the latter pair with stunning free-kicks — also found the net as Rangers ran riot. Five different players scoring was a particular source of pleasure to Caixinha, who said: ‘The scoring means we have freedom in all positions. We ask the players to be dynamic and play aggressive football. ‘Everybody wants to shoot
and attack spaces. Then, when we don’t have the ball, we have to leave the opponents thinking they are playing against 22 players. ‘It was important to have this performance and result, to get through in the competition. Our focus now is on Saturday and Hibernian. ‘I really enjoyed it tonight, really pleased with quality, commitment, pace and rhythm. ‘The leadership was good, controlling the game. We were much more efficient. ‘One point I’m really pleased with is how the team got on top. We have been really ready for the game, ready to fight for every inch.’ Alves was withdrawn purely as a precaution in the second half, Caixinha saying: ‘We have a great squad. We can count on all the players, so we manage them. ‘They know they are doing a great job fighting for positions, to be options or to be substitutes. ‘Everybody is committed to what we’re doing, working hard during the week.’ On the draw, the Ibrox boss said simply: ‘It’s too far away from now. We have a month to get there. It’s going to be a game that we need to fight in to get to the semi-finals. But we’re focused on the immediate now.’ Midfielder Jordan Rossiter added: ‘The lads were fantastic. The pressure we put on told right from the off. ‘After a tough pre-season and obviously a bad result in Europe, the gaffer has spoken about momentum and building it. We’re feeling good going into Saturday and the next run of games.’ Beaten Pars boss Allan Johnston conceded: ‘We were really poor, losing the early goals. You can see the quality they’ve got once they got their confidence up. ‘When the third went in, I started thinking about damage limitation. But the fourth went in quickly. We made it easy for them. We have to respond in the right manner.’