Rangers put on a five-star display to sweep aside St Johnstone 4-0 at Ibrox on Saturday (24 October), despite Storm Boelo bringing harsh weather conditions to Glasgow.

While Kevin Kelsy grabbed a brace and Minsu Kim ran riot to secure a dominant three points, former Light Blues striker Peter Lovenkrands has highlighted underlying concerns regarding squad fringe players who were left sitting on the bench.

Speaking live on BBC Sportsound during commentary duty, Lovenkrands pointed specifically toward the frustrations felt by midfielder Vanja Dragojevic after failing to make it onto the pitch once again. The Serbian has now remained an unused substitute in eight consecutive Premiership games.

The Rangers pundit also turned his attention to Tochi Chukwuani, noting how one of the team’s standout performers from the previous campaign has seen his minutes severely restricted this season.

Peter Lovenkrands concerned about Vanja Dragojevic’s lack of minutes at Rangers

Analysing Derek McInnes‘ selection and in-game management during the comfortable win, Lovenkrands offered a balanced view on why certain players are being overlooked. However, the BBC pundit claimed that Dragojevic will be asking serious questions about his situation.

Lovenkrands said: “Yeah, he’s (Chukwuani) not been playing. For me, he was one of the better players last season for Rangers, and he’s not really had much game time this season. Yeah, there are a few players I would have loved to have seen. I think also you could have brought [Badredine] Bouanani off and then put [Findlay] Curtis on. In that way but he’s not done that; he probably wants to give Bouanani a run, give him 90 minutes. So I understand that as well. But yeah, Dragojevic, he must be sitting there thinking, ‘How am I going to get a game here?'”

While Lovenkrands acknowledged McInnes’ reasoning behind keeping players like Bouanani on the pitch to build match rhythm, the underlying depth at Ibrox means competition for places remains fierce.

As Rangers balance domestic commitments with a packed fixture list, managing the frustrations of established talents who find themselves outside the starting XI will be a key challenge for McInnes moving forward.