Rangers: Alfredo Morelos may not start against Leverkusen, says Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard is considering
leaving Rangers’ Europa League talisman Alfredo Morelos out of his starting line-up for the first leg of the last-16 tie against Bayer Leverkusen at Ibrox tonight.

Alfredo Morelos is top scorer in this season's Europa League with 14 goals. Picture: Paul Devlin / SNS

The Rangers boss admits he has “a decision to make” on who leads the line , with Florian Kamberi a serious contender to be picked ahead of Morelos.

Rangers’ impressive run from the first qualifying round to the latter stages of the Europa League this season has been underpinned by Morelos, who is the tournament’s leading scorer with 14 goals so far.

But the Colombian international striker’s form has dipped in recent weeks, amid further disciplinary issues, and he has scored just once in his 10 appearances since the winter break.

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard is considering leaving Alfredo Morelos out of his starting XI. Picture: Ian MacNicol/Getty

With Morelos suspended, on-loan Hibernian forward Kamberi started the second leg of Rangers’ last-32 tie against 
Braga and his displays in general have impressed Gerrard since his move from Easter Road in January.

Gerrard said: “His performance in Braga is definitely on my mind.

“Kamberi has been a breath of fresh air, whether it’s been a cameo from the bench of when we’ve asked him to start.

“He’s really tried to carry out what we’ve asked of him.

“He’s brought energy to the team and again at the weekend at Ross County, you could see his impact with his sheer presence and selfless style with the way he plays. I’ve been really pleased with him.

“One thing’s for sure, for us to have any chance of progression through this tie against Leverkusen, we’re going to need all our players in form and at it.

“They need to bring their best and max out over the course of the 90 minutes and Alfredo is no different.

“I think Alfredo is aware of where his form’s at. We’re all aware of that.

“But we all know he’s very capable at this level against this type of opposition.

“Him being at his best, taking chances for us, gives us a better chance of progressing. But I’ve got a decision to make with the number nine position.

“I’ve seen Alfredo in better form. But I also see him working ever so hard to get himself back there.

“If he’s picked – or whoever is picked for that role – we need a real selfless performance and we need the person to be really tuned into what we’re looking for from a tactical point of view.

“No-one within this system can go off and do what they want because that can be really damaging to the team and how we want to play.

“Over the course of both legs, I’m sure we’re going to need Alfredo and Flo with the 
disappointment of not having Jermain Defoe as he’ll miss both games.

“But it won’t just be one single thing that affects my decision on who starts,” added Gerrard.

“It’ll be who I think, in front of this crowd, can do the best job for the team. I’ll go from there but I haven’t made the decision just yet.”