Steven Gerrard says Rangers 'need to be sensible' if they are to get the best out of Kemar Roofe

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard will continue to adopt a careful approach to his deployment of Kemar Roofe despite the striker’s hot streak of scoring form.

Kemar Roofe celebrates his goal in Rangers' 2-2 draw against Benfica at Ibrox in the Europa League on Thursday night. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The 27-year-old English forward bagged his fourth goal in Rangers’ last three games with his stunning strike in the 2-2 Europa League draw against Benfica at Ibrox on Thursday night.

Roofe lacked match fitness and conditioning when he arrived at the club in a £3.5 million move from Anderlecht in August but Gerrard feels the former Leeds United man is now approaching his optimum levels.

He is likely to be omitted from Sunday’s League Cup tie at Falkirk, however, as Gerrard looks to ensure he can call upon the increasingly influential member of his squad as much as possible during an intense December schedule which could see Rangers play as many as nine games in 28 days.

“Now he has played quite a few games on the spin, we need to be sensible with Kemar for the weekend,” said Gerrard. “We will make that decision in the coming days.

“But we need to keep him fit for big games domestically because he is going to be a big help to the squad.

“He is repeating training sessions now and he is available for games. He’s got no niggles, pains or disruptions to his training.

“I think you can see signs he is getting close to his best. He looked dangerous throughout and scored a fantastic goal against Benfica. We are really pleased with him at the moment."

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