Joshua Barrie, sometimes seen on Sky Sports, believes Ridvan Yilmaz should start for Rangers this Saturday.
It comes after the left-back was handed his first Champions League minutes in the week as he played all 90 in the defeat to Napoli.
The Turkey international arrived in the summer in a deal that could rise to £5.3m but his game time has been severely limited.
Yilmaz had played just 12 minutes of football between the Scottish Premiership and UEFA’s elite competition from August 6th before Wednesday night.
He has been used as a backup to Borna Barisic but Barrie feels he must now be given an opportunity by Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Taking to Twitter, the Rangers Review writer posted:
“Rangers after five games in the Champions League have scored one goal and conceded 19. Any result tonight would’ve taken a miracle but over the course, they’ve hardly competed. Looking devoid of identity.
”Ridvan’s performance a positive tonight, has to start Saturday for me.”
TIF Thoughts on Barrie’s comments…
Is Barisic good enough to be Rangers first-choice left-back?YesNo |
Barisic has held down the left-back berth, starting all but two of the club’s league and European games.
The 27-time Croatia international has been called out for his ‘defensive shortfalls’ which were highlighted against Liverpool during the 7-1 drubbing.
Meanwhile, Yilmaz was one of the Bears’ most prominent players in Naples.
As per SofaScore, the 21-year-old made a team-high three interceptions.
He also created one big chance and only James Tavernier and James Sands had more touches on the ball than the former Besiktas player (63).
It was an encouraging performance from the six-cap Turkey ace and one worthy of a start at the weekend, but with a crunch game against Aberdeen, it would be a big call from Van Bronckhorst to drop Barisic.