Alfredo Morelos has ‘important’ role to play at Rangers, says Giovanni Van Bronckhorst

Giovanni van Bronckhorst has backed Alfredo Morelos to play an important part in the remainder of Rangers’ season after detecting a change in the striker’s attitude.

Morelos was axed from the squad that qualified for the Champions League against PSV Eindhoven last week following concerns over fitness and how he approached his work.

In the final season of his contract at Ibrox, the Colombian’s future was thrown into doubt as Van Bronckhorst made it clear he had to mend his ways.

Alfredo Morelos can still be an ‘important’ player for Rangers despite his recent squad exile

Giovanni van Bronckhorst had a conversation with Morelos and has seen a ‘change in attitude’

Morelos completed a two-game ban for his costly red card at Easter Road as he sat out Tuesday night’s 3-1 Premier Sports Cup win over Queen of the South.

Afterwards, Van Bronckhorst confirmed he’d held a positive meeting with the 26-year-old on Sunday and firmly expects him to remain at Rangers beyond Thursday night’s transfer deadline.

‘I had a good chat with him on Sunday,’ said the Rangers manager. 

‘He had a good week to train, but also to think about his future. As I said before, he is still a Rangers player. I think he is going to be important for us in the next months and this season.

Morelos was sent off at Easter Road against Hibernian and has been out of favour since then

‘I saw a change in his attitude, the way he worked. We have to keep working like this for the next coming months to be the player he can be – and a player who can give us a lot.’

It remains to be seen whether Morelos will immediately return to the squad for Saturday’s Old Firm showdown at Celtic Park.

Van Bronckhorst isn’t closing the door on new faces being added before that game but neither is he anxiously pushing for deals in the closing phase of the window.

‘I’m relaxed,’ he said. ‘There is still a couple of days. You never know what is happening in those days and you have to be prepared.

‘At the moment, I think this is the squad we are going to have.’

A debut goal from teenage striker Robbie Ure put Rangers in front against Queens. The League One side briefly levelled through Lee Connelly but two goals from Scott Arfield secured a place in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals for Van Bronckhorst, who changed his entire starting line-up from the weekend win over Ross County.

Van Bronckhorst is now encouraged with what he has seen and is ready to re-integrate him

‘I’m happy with the result,’ said the Dutchman. ‘We could give a lot of players minutes who needed minutes to raise their levels of fitness, so that is very positive.

‘It is fantastic for Ure to score. When you are young, it is special to make your debut and to score after eight minutes, that will give him confidence.

‘We have a lot of talent in the academy so we have to push them and work hard to give the first team the players for the future.’

Meanwhile, right back Mateusz Zukowski has returned to Poland to join Lech Poznan on loan with a view to a permanent transfer.