Despite having impressed in a partnership with Ryan Naderi in recent games, including the win over Kilmarnock, Kelsy was dropped to the bench for the draw with Dundee, thrown on after 75 minutes.

Naderi was left to lead the line alone and Ferguson felt he was isolated as Rangers were held to a draw at Dens Park.

That is why he hopes to see the Venezuela striker back in the team and the partnership given another chance to flourish.

“I liked the way Kelsy and Naderi were working,” the former Rangers captain told the Go Radio Football Show. “I thought the formation was looking good and, most importantly, they were winning games of football.

“I thought Naderi was a bit isolated in the first half on Saturday, I think he plays better with a partner.

“Derek made the decision to change Kelsy with Bouanani, and he did come up trumps with his goal and he looked at a real danger, but I just like the two big boys up top, I think it’s worked really well for Rangers.”

Meanwhile, Ferguson is not overly concerned about his old club falling four points behind their rivals in the title race.

He points out it is not a huge gap at this early stage, with a lot of twists and turns still to come.

“The reason I’m not getting uptight is because there’s a hell of a lot of football still to be played,” he explained.

“If there were just nine games to go then it would be a case of ‘What’s happening here?’, but there’s 29 games to go.

“I think there will be points dropped over the season by both Rangers and Celtic.

“I look at that block of eight games for Rangers, seven wins and one draw. It’s not a bad run.

“I’ve liked what I’ve seen in the last eight games. I think Rangers have got an edge to them which I thought was missing previously.”