Joshua Barrie has claimed Rabbi Matondo again looked short of confidence in Rangers’ most recent clash.
Matondo has had a tough start to life at Ibrox after arriving in the summer, with him yet to find the net for the side.
But Barrie claimed following the Gers’ 3-0 win over Motherwell that he has seen positives in the 22-year-old’s performance that will see him break his duck eventually.
The Welshman arrived from Schalke in the summer for £2m after failing to live up to the £11m price tag the German outfit paid Manchester City in 2019.
With just 13 senior goals and six assists to his name in 93 appearances, Matondo has been far from the talent who blitzed his way to a Jadon Sancho-esque move from the same City youth team as Jeremie Frimpong, Eric Garcia and Phil Foden.
Despite his struggles, Barrie claimed on The Rangers Review following Wednesday’s win that there were positives in the youngster’s play.
He said: “I think you’d be more concerned if they weren’t getting any opportunities, if they weren’t getting into scoring positions.
“I think that’s a worse situation than getting into them and missing them, because at least you are either showing the pace to get in behind, the movement, the ability to connect with your teammates.
“I thought Matondo looked really short of confidence again.
“It’s not as if players at Ibrox haven’t come back from similar situations before, but it’s always difficult to play yourself out of that type of situation.”
TIF Thoughts on Barrie’s comments…
Matondo’s minutes at Ibrox have become increasingly limited of late under Michael Beale, with the Welshman yet to start under the new boss and featuring in only 45 minutes throughout the four games of his tenure.
It’s undoubtedly frustrating for the Welshman, who bagged 12 goal involvements on loan last year at Cercle Brugge in Belgium as he scored all nine of his league goals in 17 Jupiler Pro League appearances.
His ability is definitely there, but with poor cameos only decreasing his minutes and subsequent confidence, the 22-year-old will be praying that one will find the net soon with the January window just around the corner, as his form could play a big part in Michael Beale’s transfer plans.