Our marksman needs back-up, says Gio

GIOVANNI VAN BRONCKHORST last night admitted that Antonio Colak cannot be expected to continue carrying the goalscoring burden for Rangers on his own.

A double from the Croatian secured a 2-1 win over Dundee United at Ibrox and extended his scoring run to nine goals in 13 games since joining the club in the summer.

Unable to rely on the out-of-shape Alfredo Morelos or the injured Kemar Roofe, Van Bronckhorst admits he has been overly-reliant on his new striker, who was celebrating his 29th birthday yesterday.

Post-match, the manager urged the likes of Ryan Kent and winger Rabbi Matondo — neither of whom have scored this season — to increase their productivity.

‘Antonio has started the season really well,’ said the Dutchman. ‘But we need more players to be able to score.

‘Ryan Kent is a player who is also very dangerous, but also needs to improve his scoring. He knows that.

‘Rabbi is a player who can deliver that, too. He is one of the players I didn’t pick today because I had to go from 23 to 20, which is always difficult for a manager.’

Yesterday’s narrow win ended a run of consecutive heavy defeats to Celtic, Ajax and Napoli but the performance was far from vintage.

‘Mentally it is quite difficult when you have three defeats in a row,’ said Van Bronckhorst. ‘I think at moments in the game today it affected us. In moments of stress, it is difficult to keep focusing on your task and on your play.’

Van Bronckhorst enlisted two youngsters for the United game. While the inclusion of Leon King in place of James Sands in defence was not unexpected, Charlie McCann’s start in midfield was a surprise.

The 20-year-old had a tidy game, without fully asserting himself, but Van Bronckhorst saw enough to offer encouragement for his development.

He added: ‘We started with two academy players which is important for this club. They both deserved to be in the line-up.

‘You could see the ability Charlie has, the speed of play. He quickens the play at moments. He had some chances to score today and that is one thing he has to improve.’