Kris Boyd offers Rangers ‘false-nine’ alternative to Alfredo Morelos ahead of Ross County clash

Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd is adamant his old club need to improve significantly in the final third of the pitch - despite scoring three goals for the second match in quick succession.

Substitute Scott Arfield popped up with two dramatic strikes deep into stoppage time at Pittodrie to overturn Aberdeen’s 2-1 advantage and secure a pivotal victory in the Premiership title race as they narrowed the gap, albeit for 24 hours, on league leaders Celtic to six points.

Despite the win, Light Blues boss Michael Beale was far from pleased with his side’s performance, rating it a mere 5/10, but praised the resilience and character of his players to fight until the last kick of the ball.

Morelos led the line in Antonio Colak’s absence once more and Boyd was left unimpressed with the Colombian striker’s contribution throughout the match, suggesting that Beale should turn to either Arfield or Fashion Sakala to start up front against Ross County on Friday.

Speaking on Sky Sports last night, Boyd admitted: “He’s not daft Michael Beale, he knows there’s a lot of work to do. Rangers never seem to be in control of a game of football and are waiting on individuals to do something that spark whether it’s (Malik) Tillman, Ryan Kent or Scott Arfield when he came on - someone.

“Looking at it and I think at the top end of the pitch, I don’t ant to go on about it and I’m sick to the back teeth of talking about him but he needs to do more, Morelos. No doubt about it. Looking at Friday night now, could Scott Arfield potentially fill that role as a false nine? Or Sakala coming in off the line? But it’s got to be a lot better at the top end of the pitch for Rangers.”

Fellow television pundit James McFadden was in agreement and believes Rangers should have reacted better to conceding an equaliser on the stroke of half-time.

He added: “The stats back it up that they’ve got character but as Kris says, and performance-wise Michael Beale has admitted, it’s not good enough and you can’t continue to rely on that character to get you out. They started well and were hit with a sucker-punch before half-time.

“But it’s a goal, it’s not the end of the world - you need to focus on the second half but they didn’t and Aberdeen came out better and were allowed to knock the ball about and scored a good goal. There is still some work to be done for Rangers but we know they have the mentality.”