Inside Ben Davies' Rangers talks as 'knew I'd be important' assertion comes true

The Ibrox defender could be in line to face Celtic after scoring on reappearance

Philippe Clement kept reminding Ben Davies of his importance to Rangers during his absence and the defender climbed off the bench to show exactly why against Kilmarnock on Sunday.

The 28-year-old made his first appearance since a Europa League game against Real Betis on December 14 and only his 13th of the season when he replaced injured centre-back Leon Balogun for the start of the second half of an entertaining cinch Premiership game at Ibrox.

Gers skipper James Tavernier’s earlier own goal – before he had a penalty saved by Killie keeper Will Dennis after defender Joe Wright was sent off for the offending handball – was cancelled out by Portuguese attacker Fabio Silva just before the break.

Ben Davies netted for Rangers in their 4-1 win over Kilmarnock on Sunday.

Davies scored his first Rangers goal in the 62nd minute when he followed in on a John Lundstram strike that had been spilled by Dennis, with further goals from substitute Tom Lawrence and defender John Souttar keeping Clement’s side three points behind Celtic ahead of their Old Firm meeting next weekend. Balogun will be assessed in the next few days and, with Connor Goldson out for the rest of the season due to a knee injury, Davies could be asked to start against the reigning champions at Celtic Park.

“It’s been a long time out,” he told RangersTV after the 4-1 win. “I was on my way back and then I suffered a concussion in training and that set me back a couple of weeks. It was frustrating. The rehab went well but then it ended up being out a long time so I am delighted to be back and helping the team. The manager has been great and he has made me feel part of it and saying I would be important at some stage. Thankfully I got my chance. I had to wait for it, but I am grateful for it.

“It was a wild game. I was on the bench for the first half and there was loads going on, a lot of stoppages. There was some frustration but it was an important goal we got. In the second half we created chances and ended up winning comfortably. Our confidence is good – we scored four goals and created a lot of chances. The red card probably helped to create space for us but none the less we have come away with four goals and it could have been more.”