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Rangers: Stephen Kelly impresses in recent game on loan at Salford City

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Image for Rangers: Stephen Kelly impresses in recent game on loan at Salford City

Rangers’ on-loan midfielder Stephen Kelly enjoyed an impressive performance on loan at his current side during their recent game.

The 21-year-old defender is someone that has been on the fringes at Ibrox since coming through the Gers academy, making just three appearances for the senior side over the years, spending the majority of his time out on loan across a number of clubs.

His most recent loan spell has taken him to English League Two side Salford City, where he is getting a lot more minutes than he was in Glasgow, starting five of their games since joining on loan in the January transfer window.

Against Leyton Orient in his recent outing, he certainly played his part in keeping the home side at bay throughout the game.

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He completed 74% of his passes, which was higher than the team average of 61%. He also managed to win both of his two tackle attempts, whilst also making three clearances and ensuring that he wasn’t dribbled past (as per WhoScored). Elsewhere, he made one key pass and had 65 touches of the ball.

TIF Thoughts on Rangers’ on-loan midfielder Stephen Kelly…

Will Giovanni van Bronckhorst succeed at Rangers?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Let’s just hope that this performance can start a renaissance for Kelly at the club, because he certainly hasn’t been doing too great since moving south of the border.

Whilst ranking in the top 10 for a number of categories including tackles and interceptions per game, he currently ranks outside the top 10 among Salford players in a number of other areas such as total passes, key passes and aerial duels won per game, whilst ranking 19th overall when it comes to their overall ratings (via WhoScored).

With Kelly’s contract expiring this summer, he isn’t exactly making much of a case that he deserves another chance beyond this summer at Ibrox, but if he can turn this one game into a decent run, he might just be able to convince Giovanni van Bronckhorst that he should get another chance rather than being told to leave on a free transfer.

In other news: Good news for Barisic, GVB already found replacement: Rangers player linked with exit – opinion

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Freelance sports journalist & broadcaster.