The stunning goal and stats that have Rangers fans calling for Jordan Jones to be given key role after shock Euro snub

The Northern Ireland international seems to have played his way back into Gerrard’s plans after a tough start to life at Ibrox – domestically, anyhow.

Jones has started two of the Gers’ last three Scottish Premiership matches, but was somewhat bafflingly omitted from their Europa League squad, with the group stage set to get underway against Standard Liege on Thursday evening.

The decision was made to look even stranger by a training ground clip that Rangers shared to their official Twitter account on Wednesday afternoon. In the video, Jones is seen putting the ball through Steven Davis’ legs before cutting inside James Tavernier and curling a sublime effort past the helpless Allan McGregor.

And the general consensus among fans reacting to the footage seems to be that the winger is fully deserving of a greater chance to prove himself in the first team at Ibrox.

In particular, there appears to be a growing contingent calling for him to be Gerrard’s preferred option ahead of Brandon Barker.

The former Manchester City player is another who had to persevere through a slow start in Glasgow. Also joining the club last summer, Barker made just six Scottish Premiership outings in 2019/20, four of which came from the bench.

This term, however, he has been a regular feature of Gerrard’s starting XI, and has already made one league appearance more than he did in the entirety of the last campaign.

Still, supporters clearly aren’t overly enamoured with his contribution so far, and the stats would suggest that there could be some merit in giving Jones a more prolonged run in the first team.

The ex-Killie player’s 40% shot accuracy this season is double that of Barker’s output, despite the fact that his xG has been, on average, 0.17 lower per game, as per Wyscout.

Beyond his goalscoring threat, however, Jones also appears to offer a consistently superior level of traditional wing play.

Given the importance of James Tavernier and Borna Barisic to the Gers’ style of play, we know that Gerrard values directness, good ball-carrying, and quality distribution in wide areas.

In that regard, Jones has made 0.87 more dribbles than Barker per 90 minutes this term, and has a marginally higher completion rate too.

Similarly, his crossing accuracy is 6.8% better than the 24-year-old’s.

While all of that is important, the factor that could really set Jones apart, however, is his ability to produce something from nothing. We saw it with his superb run and finish against Motherwell earlier this season, and we saw it again with his brilliant effort in training yesterday.

The winger is more than capable of pulling out the occasional moment of magic, and as yet, that’s not something we’ve seen from Barker.

If Rangers are to usurp Celtic this season, you get the feeling that there can be no passengers in their title push.

From Ryan Kent, to Scott Arfield, to the returning Joe Aribo, Gerrard has made a concerted effort to pack out his side with match winners.

It may take Jones a little while to fully shake off his rustiness and convince the manager of his worth, but the evidence would suggest that he is getting closer to inserting himself into that top bracket of Ibrox talent.