Rangers of Scotland striker, Sadiq Umar has received encouraging words from the club’s gaffer, Steven Gerrard, as the Liverpool legend says the youngster has improved his form in training with the team.
The 21-year-old Rio Olympics bronze medalist, who on a season-long loan from AS Roma has found the going tough with The Gers since his arrival in the summer, but looks set to finally get his time in the sun.
Before now, Sadiq has registered just 26 minutes of competitive action, but now looks good to get more relevance and play actively under the former Liverpool and England skipper.
This comes as a transformation from previous scathing words from the Ibrox boss, who said late last month that Sadiq needs to improve in everything, after his top two strikers, Alfredo Morelos were banned and Kyle Lafferty cup-tied will not be available against Aberdeen in the Betfred Cup semi-final.
However, Gerrard is now singing a different song, as he says the striker has shown he wants to contribute and took Lafferty’s place on the bench for Sunday’s clash with Hamilton, following the latter’s falling out with the IFA and his national team manager, Michael O’Neill.
Gerrard said: “Umar has shown that improvement. He’s been working very hard. He’s got his head down. He’s improved a lot.
“His application has improved; his quality has improved so he’s given me something to think about for the future.
“Sometimes when a manager is honest with you, sometimes you have to go away and self-reflect. If you’re a proper footballer you go analyse and come back stronger.”
