Lawrence Shankland's Role at Rangers: McInnes' Confidence
Derek McInnes insists Lawrence Shankland will be a driving force at Rangers this season – whether he is in the starting XI or not.
The Rangers manager, who made Shankland his captain at Hearts and handed him the same responsibility at Ibrox in the summer, pushed back on any suggestion the armband guarantees minutes.
“Being captain does not guarantee anything, and he accepted that,” McInnes said ahead of Thursday’s UEFA Conference League play-off first leg against Jablonec. “Somebody has to be club captain and, having worked with Lawrence before, he is a brilliant captain and a brilliant boy.”
Shankland’s start to life in Govan has been slow. The Scotland striker has just one goal for Rangers so far – a penalty against Jagiellonia in the Europa League qualifier – and found himself on the bench for Sunday’s 5-1 League Cup win over St Mirren, where Nico Raskin took the armband and the headlines.
The noise around that decision was inevitable. McInnes, though, is treating it as background chatter.
“You want your captain to have a big influence on and off the pitch, and I believe Lawrence will have that,” he said. “For me, it is a non-question, although I understand why people might see more in it.”
Shankland came on for only his second substitute appearance of the season in the second half against Saints but could not add to that solitary strike. The performance did not worry his manager in the slightest.
“When you have a player like Lawrence, who knows his way around the penalty box and how to score goals, I do not worry too much about it,” McInnes said. “He is too good not to score regularly. He has consistently shown that over a period of time in the Premiership, with 20-odd goals a season at Hearts.
“Sometimes people can overemphasise these things. For me, it is a case of letting him play his natural game. The best strikers have that instinctive side to their game, where everything looks natural and seamless. I have no doubt he will do well here.”
While Shankland works his way into rhythm, McInnes continues to reshape the squad around him.
Earlier on Monday, Rangers confirmed the arrival of Kosta Nedeljkovic from Aston Villa on a season-long loan, with an obligation to buy. The 20-year-old Serbia international becomes McInnes’ 11th signing of a busy summer and walks straight into a three-way fight for the right-back slot with Dujon Sterling and Ross McCrorie.
It is an area McInnes had ringed in red long before the window opened.
“It was a position we identified at the start of pre-season. We looked at various options,” he explained. “The club had been reliant on Dujon, who has had his history of injuries, so we wanted to bring in a different type of full-back.
“I’ve got a high opinion of Dujon, but with Kosta you get a player similar to Vanja (Dragojevic) in a full-back position: real enthusiasm, athleticism and the ability to get up and down the pitch.
“He shows good quality and a real eagerness to play the role. As a young player, there will still be areas to improve, but we’re looking forward to helping him develop.”
With a new right-back through the door and his captain under scrutiny, McInnes heads into Europe knowing one thing: if Shankland’s track record is any guide, the goals – and the influence – are only a matter of time.
