Aribo holds the key in Ibrox men’s bid to unlock packed defences

JOE ARIBO cracks a modest smile when it’s put to him that he emerged as Rangers’ best player at Livingston last Sunday without setting foot on the pitch.

Following a laboured performance, Sky analyst Darren Fletcher said that Steven Gerrard’s team had missed Aribo’s ability to carry the ball forward.

The point was embellished a couple of days later when Brian Laudrup, writing in his column for our sister paper, explained how Aribo’s quick feet might have opened up the game for Rangers.

The young midfielder said: ‘It’s good to hear praise from people I watched growing up,’ said Aribo.

‘I supported Man Utd growing up and enjoyed watching Fletcher. I also know of Brian Laudrup’s standing at Rangers.

‘Hearing praise from him is amazing but the way I play, it’s a normal thing for me to create on the pitch.’

The ankle swelling that kept Aribo out last weekend hadn’t subsided enough for the 24-year-old to face Kilmarnock yesterday, but he hopes to be back when the team next plays — against Hamilton next Saturday.

Now in his second season at Ibrox, the midfielder (below) admits it was a bit of a culture shock when he completed his move from Charlton Athletic. Playing as part of a team chasing promotion had forged a winning mentality but the level of demand at Rangers was more extreme in nature. And then came the problems of adjusting to the plastic pitches. It’s no coincidence Rangers dropped their first points of the new season on Livingston’s artificial turf.

Listening to Aribo, you wonder whether he would have been able to meet Fletcher and Laudrup’s expectations after all.

‘This was a hard league to adapt to because one week you are on grass, the next week you are on a plastic pitch,’ he admitted. ‘But you can’t use that as an excuse.’

‘You need to deal with what you have and we know that we need to play on plastic pitches sometimes.

‘I don’t think anything has changed about my game. I’m a player that likes to open the door, to open defences and move people about.

‘I don’t think it puts any extra responsibility on me because we have other players who can also provide that creative spark.

‘I’ve had my year of learning, so I would say there is a part of me that feels more established.’