Derek McInnes Backs Lawrence Shankland to Shine at Rangers
Derek McInnes is adamant Lawrence Shankland will come good at Rangers – and insists the striker will be central to his plans whether he starts or not.
Shankland has just one goal in five appearances since his summer move to Ibrox and began Sunday’s 5-1 League Cup win over St Mirren on the bench, as Ryan Naderi led the line and Nico Raskin wore the armband.
McInnes, though, is not remotely rattled.
“Too good not to score”
The Rangers manager knows Shankland as well as anyone. Under McInnes at Hearts last season, the Scotland international hit 22 goals and carried the Edinburgh club for long stretches of the campaign.
"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.
"Sometimes people can over emphasise 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."
On Sunday, McInnes turned to Naderi from the start and the German rewarded that call by opening the scoring in the rout of St Mirren. Shankland, club captain, watched the early stages from the sidelines.
That, McInnes stressed, is the reality of life at Rangers.
Captaincy brings status, not guarantees
"I said that when I spoke to Lawrence," the manager explained. "Being captain does not guarantee anything, and he accepted that. He is not going to stamp his feet about it.
"Having worked with Lawrence before, he is a brilliant captain and a brilliant boy. You want your captain to have a big influence on and off the pitch, and I believe Lawrence will have that."
For now, that influence may sometimes come in shorter bursts or from the dressing room rather than from the first whistle. McInnes is backing Shankland’s personality and penalty-box instinct to cut through any early-season frustration.
Raskin praised amid transfer noise
While Shankland adjusts to a new role and fresh competition, Raskin finds himself at the centre of another familiar storyline: transfer speculation.
The 25-year-old Belgium midfielder has been heavily linked with a move away, yet McInnes insists his professionalism has not dipped.
"Every player's got a price," McInnes said. "Every player has got a time where it maybe suits them to move on, suits the club or whatever.
"But I think it's important for me to say that Nico's been a dream since we came in, in terms of how he's set about his work, and he doesn't look like a boy who's distracted in any way with that.
"I've no doubt there's a lot of stuff going on in the background with him. I just need to play it by ear really to be honest. I'm enjoying working with him."
Raskin’s response to the noise has been to keep playing, keep running, keep leading. On Sunday he captained the side, another sign of the trust McInnes has placed in him during a delicate period in his career.
Jablonec test looms in Europe
Rangers now pivot from domestic relief to European jeopardy. Jablonec visit Ibrox on Thursday for the first leg of a Conference League play-off, and they arrive in serious form, riding a six-game winning streak.
McInnes is not interested in the favourites debate.
"It's difficult to really assess who are the favourites," he admitted, before laying down his own marker. "It's just a game that we put the emphasis on ourselves to go and win."
He has studied the Czech side closely and expects a team that can adapt and irritate.
"They're clearly a well-organised team. They've got a few good individuals who can make the game a bit more problematic for you, but we feel as though we've got a good handle on what they are.
"They can change from shape to shape a lot even within the same personnel so we've got to be ready for that."
For McInnes, the real question is not what Jablonec bring, but what Rangers show.
"I'm just really trying to concentrate on us finding our level and us getting big performances. If we can do that then, although I'm expecting a tough game, I expect it to be tougher for them."
A captain searching for rhythm, a midfielder under the microscope, and a European tie that could shape the early tone of the season. The stage at Ibrox on Thursday will be crowded with storylines; McInnes is betting that Rangers – and Shankland – are ready to write the next one.
