Jose Cifuentes urged to grasp Rangers moment and told he's been there 'long enough' to now back up Michael Beale hype

Jose Cifuentes was supposed to be the last piece of Michael Beale's jigsaw as he reshaped the Rangers team during the summer.

It's fair to say, though, that the Ecuadorian has, at times, looked like a square peg in a round hole in Scotland so far as he's struggled to impose himself as his team, too, has failed to hit the ground running. Beale, who tracked the midfielder for months as he played in the MLS with Los Angeles FC, is convinced that Cifuentes is about to become the influence that he has always believed he could be at Ibrox.

The injury that will leave Belgian Nico Raskin sidelined until after the next international break, will open the door for the South American, who spent 90 minutes going head to head to Lionel Messi and Co as his country lost 1-0 to Argentina less than a fortnight ago - proof, his club boss claims, that he is of the quality to make an impression for Rangers, starting against Real Betis in the Europa League. Beale couldn't have been any more adamant in declaring: "This is his moment.

“The reason Cifuentes didn’t play at the weekend was because he didn’t arrive back until the Friday morning from South America. So he’s ready to go.

“He came in very late. In the first couple of games he did some really good things. He produced a fantastic cross against Servette that should have been an assist and had one against Livingston where the defender made a fantastic block against Cyriel (Dessers), so he’s been unfortunate in that regard.

"He’s been here for a while now. I said recently that the new players have been here long enough now. He was the last one to come in and now I think he’s ready to go. He played against Argentina last week with his international team. He is experienced. He has