Journalist Derek Clark has raised concerns about the demands being put on Scott Arfield at Rangers this season.
Speaking on the Rangers Review prior to Wednesday night’s Champions League outing, the journalist felt that the number of minutes Arfield has been asked to play has had a negative impact on his form.
The midfielder, who will be 34 next month, played just over 1,600 minutes of Scottish Premiership football last season.
However, an injury to Tom Lawrence has seemingly opened the door for the former Canada international and provided him with more opportunities.
The former Burnley man has started each of the Gers’ last five league games and Clark has expressed his fear for the veteran.
He said: “First of all, he has played too much football. You can’t play as often as he is doing, similar to Steven Davis.
“But the fact of the matter is, Rangers don’t really have any other options at the moment and they’ve been asked to go to the well too often, and they’re getting less and less out of these players.”
TIF Thoughts on Clark’s comments…
Should Van Bronckhorst be sacked?
Yes!
No!
Arfield has been deployed most regularly in an attacking-midfield role amid Lawrence’s setback.
He has weighed in with five goals and an assist including opening the scoring in the Light Blues’ recent humiliation at the hands of Liverpool.
The £1.35m-rated dynamo has only started twice in the Champions League group stages, and perhaps to Clark’s delight, was only a substitute in Naples on Wednesday night.
But despite the writer’s concerns, the Livingston-born ace has only been in the starting XI nine times this term in all competitions.
Having been used heavily in the Scottish Premiership in recent weeks, Giovanni van Bronckhorst made the wise call to give him just 23 minutes against Napoli.
With Aberdeen to come this weekend, managing Arfield’s game time at his age is paramount, but it remains to be seen if it will indeed pay off.