Rangers: Journalist claims Tom Lawrence could make long-awaited return

Journalist Joshua Barrie believes that Tom Lawrence could make his return to the Rangers first team this weekend.

Rangers will be looking to jump to the top spot of the SPFL this weekend as they play before their Old Firm rivals, although they do have a tough away match against Hearts to contend with on Saturday lunchtime.

However, Giovanni van Bronckhorst may be buoyed by the potential return of Lawrence, who has missed the last five Rangers fixtures and been severely missed – with his attacking output being huge for the Gers so far this campaign with three goals and two assists in nine games.

Barrie, speaking on the Rangers Review YouTube channel, discussed the likelihood of Lawrence returning this weekend.

He said: “Tom Lawrence could be back. Another piece I did over the international break was just looking at how important he is, looking at the attacking midfield options that Rangers had in their final league game before the international break against Dundee United compared to Lawrence and Tillman, what they give you in terms of the touches in the opposition box, their chance creation numbers.

“I think it’s so important that they both get back to playing in tandem. We’ve only seen them play those two No 8s once in the league. For me, they need to do it almost every week.”

TIF Thoughts on Lawrence’s potential return…

It’s no surprise that Barrie is desperate to see Lawrence return to the Rangers side judging by how active he is when it comes to peppering the opposition’s goal, having registered the second-most shots and the second-best goals-per-shot-on-target ratio (as per FBref).

Rangers will know that being just two points behind Celtic, they have to put some pressure on them this weekend as they play before them and can push their rivals down to second spot despite losing in the Old Firm derby not too long ago.