Scott Arfield and Joe Aribo temptation for Rangers boss - but decisions pay off

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst admitted he was tempted to start both Scott Arfield and Joe Aribo against Livingston on Wednesday night.

Arfield stepped off the bench on his return from injury to score the 75th minute winner that maintained Rangers’ four-point lead over Celtic in the Premiership title race in his first appearance since Boxing Day.

Joe Aribo, however, was left out of the squad altogether after making his return from the African Cup of Nations following Nigeria’s exit at the hands of Tunisia in the round of 16 on Sunday.

Their absences, along with that of Alfredo Morelos, called up for Colombia duty, and Ryan Kent, suspended following his red card against Aberdeen, were keenly felt as Rangers toiled to break down Livingston resistance.

Van Bronckhorst admitted he gave consideration to starting both players. On whether he was tempted to start Arfield, the Rangers boss replied: “In an ideal world yes. But I think we have to be smart as well with our players coming back from injury.

“It’s tempting to put Scott in from the first minute but I think we did well.

“For me, it was also tempting to put Joe [Aribo] straight away in the team but he’s had two days of flying back from Africa.

“Those are the decisions you have to take because it’s not only the game tonight. We play many more games in the coming weeks and sometimes you haven to be thinking a little bit rational and say ‘okay this is the smart thing to do.’

“But of course if you score in the 75th minute, you know you only have 15 minutes left.

“We were pushing for the goal. After it went 1-0, we had some chances to score the second goal but in the end three points count.”

Arfield was introduced in the 59th minute in place of James Sands, who