Alfredo Morelos: Rangers manager reports 'change of attitude' as door opens for Celtic return

There has been a change in the attitude of Alfredo Morelos, according to Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst who has maintained that the Colombian striker still has a part to play at the club.

Rangers Giovanni Van Bronckhorst during the match against Queen of the South.

Morelos has been in disgrace since his petulant red card at Easter Road ten days ago in a 2-2 draw against Hibs. Aside from serving a two-game suspension his lack of fitness and conditioning had also been an issue for Van Bronckhorst who left the 26-year-old out of the squad for last week’s successful Champions League qualifier against PSV Eindhoven.

“I had a good chat with him on Sunday,” said Van Bronckhorst. “He had a good week to train, but also to think about his future. I had a good talk with him. As I said before, he is still a Rangers player. I think he is going to be important for us in the next months and this season.

“I saw a change in his attitude, the way he worked. He has to keep continue working like this for the next coming months to be the player he can be – and a player who can give us a lot.”

Whether he is in the squad for Saturday’s game against Celtic will be intriguing. Ange Postecoglou’s side have the chance to open up a five-point lead at the top of the table, a gap that even at this stage of the campaign would feel significant.

“Every game is huge against Celtic,” said van Bronckhorst. “We are in demanding weeks with a lot of big games but the first big game is Saturday against Celtic. We have to prepare. We have three days to prepare. You want to be involved in these kind of games and you will see on Saturday that is a big game. We have to be ready and we will take the next coming weeks, months, game by game.”

The Rangers manager, meanwhile, is unruffled ahead of the imminent closure of the summer transfer window.

“I’m relaxed,” he said. “There is still a couple of days. You never know what is happening in those days and you have to be prepared. At the moment, I think this is the squad we are going to have. As I mentioned before, we created this squad to be competitive and reach the Champions League as well, which they did.”