Čolak offers no-lack of goals against Rovers

Michael Beale has been speaking to the media today ahead of the upcoming Scottish Cup fixture between Rangers and Raith Rovers at Ibrox this Sunday. 

All comments from Beale indicate that he will name an unchanged side from the one that brought home the sunshine from Leith on Wednesday evening. This news should have the Ibrox-faithful licking their lips at the prospect of a goal-fest on Sunday, with Messrs. Čolak and Sakala both looking sharp and scoring in the Hibs drubbing.

Antonio Čolak has had an up and down season with regards to his availability for selection, but he is appears to be on the cusp of a really rich vein of form. In the past two games he has looked lean, mean and keen to contribute to as many goals as possible.

Statistically, you won't be surprised to find out that Alfredo Morelos is ahead of Čolak in 'xG' and 'chances created' this season, according to Opta Analyst (see below).

That said, Beale has been making it clear for a few weeks that the team that plays best and trains best will keep starting games. In today's press conference Čolak was vigorously praised and there can be no doubt that the starting striker role is his to lose.

🎙️ MB: Colak had been fighting for fitness since I returned. In the last week he has looked sharp, with great energy and the front three were excellent at the weekend.

You have to own the shirt and fight for it in training.

— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) March 10, 2023

Beale's words here strongly imply that Antonio Čolak is absolutely owning his shirt right now and backing this up in training. Contrast that to Alfredo Morelos, who didn't have a lot of time to impress of the bench at Easter Road, and nor is he a player who has ever given the impression that he's going to work his socks off in training.

Čolak's starting place has been further strengthened at the expense of Kemar Roofe, after it was confirmed that he will be out for the rest of the season.

🎙️ MB: Tom Lawrence has had a minor operation and will be back at pre-season.

Kemar Roofe has had a minor hip operation and will also be back for pre-season.

— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) March 10, 2023

It might only be Raith Rovers, but anyone listening to the Rangers manager today cannot be in any doubt as to how important this match is to the team. A trophy-less season is never an aspiration for any Rangers player or manager, and The Rovers could be on for a real 'doing' if a certain Croatian striker has anything to do with it.

Goals aside, Čolak has been showing signs of improvement all over the pitch in these past two games. In particular, his one-touch lay-offs, passes and finishing make him very dangerous to opposition defenders. 

Morelos' place in the team hasn't been threatened like this since the days of Pedro Caixinha, when Eduardo Herrera was initially leading the line. Although, Herrera never really threatened the opposition at all!

Still there are no signs of El Buffalo extending his stay in Glasgow beyond this season, and there are many (this writer included) who will be satisfied with a thanks-for-everything-and-best-wishes style send-off for Alfredo at the end of this season; hopefully with a Scottish Cup winners' medal around his neck.

Before that however, Rangers need to take care of business against Raith Rovers and I'm personally backing Antonio Čolak to give a season-defining performance at Ibrox this weekend. 

If you fancy a punt, my regular bookmaker Paddy Power are offering odds of 17/2 for 'Tony Goals' to bag a hat-trick, the same as 'Buff'. However, I'd have to question these odds, when they're offering 7/1 for Kemar Roofe and 30/1 for Scott Wright!

Maybe there are higher odds available on the market, but I'd suspect there won't be a higher wining scoreline for Rangers this season than what we'll see in the Scottish Cup quarter-final this weekend.

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