STEVEN Gerrard is considering leaving Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos on the bench for the first leg of the Europa League last 16 double header against Bayer Leverkusen at Ibrox tonight and starting Florian Kamberi up front.
Morelos, who became the first player in the history of UEFA club competitions to score 14 goals before Christmas this season, has netted just once in 10 first team appearances in 2020.
And Gerrard, who disciplined and dropped the combustible Colombian when he returned home late from a trip to his homeland last month and missed a training session, may prefer Kamberi, the Hibernian loanee, in attack.
The Albanian has impressed his manager in training and in matches since joining Rangers until the end of the 2019/20 campaign back in January lead the line well in the 1-0 win over Braga in Portugal in the last round.
The Liverpool and England great, who will be without Jermain Defoe and Ryan Jack tonight and could be missing his captain James Tavernier after the right back sat out training yesterday with a foot injury, admitted last night that he is mulling over his options up front.
"One thing's for sure, for us to have any chance of progression through this stage, we're going to need all our players in form and at it,” said Gerrard. "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. I think 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 No.9 position.
"I've seen him 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 No.9 role position - 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."
Asked if he was contemplating bringing in Kamberi, Gerrard said: "It's definitely on my mind, for sure. Kamberi, to be fair to him, has been a breath of fresh air whether it's been a cameo from the bench or 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 you could see his impact with his sheer presence and selfless style with the way he plays. I've been really pleased with him.
"But over the course of both games 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. 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."
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