Glasgow Rangers legend Brian Laudrup believes Ryan Kent could be the difference for the Gers in their Europa League clash with Slavia Prague.

Laudrup backs Kent

The Ibrox outfit progressed to the round of 16 after beating Royal Antwerp 9-5 on aggregate and will now face the Czech champions.

Writing in his Daily Mail column (via HITC), Laudrup has backed the £7.2m-valued former Liverpool man (Transfermarkt) to be the difference for Steven Gerrard and co. He explained:

"I covered Slavia’s win over Leicester City for Danish television last week. There’s actually quite a lot of interest in them over here because a young Danish international player, Alexander Bah, has moved out to Prague.

"They have a good unit that will press high and run hard. Defensively, they are sound. Leicester barely managed to create a couple of chances against them as they were denied the space to use their counter-attacking prowess.

"But I think Rangers have different qualities – players who can take people on and create. Look at how Ryan Kent played against Antwerp, for one example.

"I still see Gerrard’s team as slight favourites. Maybe 60-40. That’s all."

More consistency

Kent was in top form against Antwerp - he scored twice across the two matches and provided an assist despite not starting either game (Transfermarkt). However, he has proven to be inconsistent across the campaign - he was on fire earlier on in the term, scoring five times in the first nine matches, but it has taken him 32 games since to double that tally.

The 24-year-old's ability is clear for all to see, but given that the Gers parted with £7.5m to capture his services in 2019 (Sky Sports), many will no doubt be expecting more. Gerrard and co will be hoping he is at his best in the next round of the Europa League as the 54-time Scottish champions aim to reach to the quarter-finals.

In other news, many Rangers fans slammed this journalist's latest article.