Chris Jack expects Derek McInnes to stick with Emmanuel Fernandez

Jack does not think McInnes will change his Rangers eleven and remove Fernandez for Ben Godfrey. In his view, Olewthu Makhanya is expected to be the Nigeria international’s centre-back partner this season. Changing that would see the duo playing fewer minutes together, and that could affect their partnership.

The Rangers Review journalist did state that he would not mind Godfrey coming into the team to replace Fernandez, but admits that he does not know much about how he can impact the game currently. The English defender was a regular feature in pre-season and seemed like he was going to be among the first-choice centre-backs, but his injury saw Makhanya get a chance and thus far, the South African has repaid his manager’s faith exceptionally.

Godfrey has just made six appearances in all competitions this season, most of which have come off the bench. His only start was in the opening game of the season, with him playing 61 minutes in the 1-1 draw against Dundee United.

Speaking on Rangers Review’s YouTube channel, Jack said: “Fernandez is probably going to be Makhanya’s partner more often than not. If you got what 29 league games left, you expect Fernandez to be that partner. I think Derek will stick with him. Wouldn’t be against seeing Ben Godfrey come in because we don’t really know enough about him right now.”

Will Rangers regret not dropping Emmanuel Fernandez?

Fernandez has shown that he is capable of riding the wave of criticism and putting in solid performances, as he did in the games against Celtic, but he then follows them up with matches in which he makes mistakes in defence, either during build-up or while defending. This kind of inconsistency will only cost his team points and make it harder for them to win the title.

Godfrey has done nothing to prove that he does not deserve a chance in the team, and Fernandez could be one mistake away from being dropped by McInnes. There is a good chance that a pairing of Makhanya and Godfrey works for the Light Blues going forward, and it needs to be tried out.