‘The whole team needs to find a solution,’ says Ryan Naderi as Rangers wrestle with striking problem

There have been moments in the past month when you might have believed that Derek McInnes smashed a mirror at some point across the summer.

Whatever criticisms could justifiably be made of the Rangers manager in his opening weeks in the job, he’s not exactly been blessed with good fortune.

A fortnight back, the loss of an early goal to Hibs was compounded by the withdrawal of Youssef Chermiti on a stretcher.

Rangers went on to lose the game at the death and later learned that they’d be missing the forward for six to nine months after a scan showed up a cruciate ligament injury.

The news came as a blow in two respects.  Chermiti had been the subject of a bumper failed bid from Galatasaray the previous day, so any ambitions the Ibrox hierarchy had of recouping some of their splurge by selling the Portuguese in this window were immediately ended.

And, purely from a football perspective, McInnes was denied the services of a player who steadily proved his worth in big matches last season after a poor start to life in Glasgow following his £10million move from Everton.

Youssef Chermiti’s long-term injury has left a void in attack that Rangers are struggling to fill

Rangers are hoping to secure a deal for Portland Timbers’ Venezuelan striker Kevin Kelsy

It reduced the manager’s options in the striking position to Lawrence Shankland, Ryan Naderi and Bojan Miovski.

Shankland’s not had the start he wanted at Ibrox – he’s converted one penalty in six appearances – while Miovski has played a total of 15 minutes.

Little wonder that the club are pursuing a deal for Kevin Kelsy, Portland Timbers’ Venezuelan striker.

Credit to Naderi, though. After failing to score in ten of his last 11 outings, he found the net at the weekend against St Mirren in the League Cup and did so again against Jablonec as Rangers established a 1-0 lead to take to Czechia next week.

But while the German is naturally pleased that he’s stepped up and filled the void across the past week, he feels it’s unrealistic to believe that he alone can continue to be the solution to the problem.

“I think it’s the responsibility for the whole team, honestly,’ said Naderi.

“With Youssef, we’re missing a unique type of player, so we have to try as a team to fill the gap, and as I said, it’s just a team thing.

“Obviously, someone has to score the goals and I’m lucky to be the one who at the moment gets the ball over the line.

“But it’s the whole team who has to fill this gap.’

While a suitable replacement for Chermiti is sourced, McInnes has no option but to go with what he’s got in next week’s return.

With Miovski frozen out and Shankland struggling to get going, on Thursday, the Rangers manager felt his best hand was deploying Naderi on his own with support coming from the flanks in the shape of Djeidi Gassama and Daisuke Yokota.

With something to defend in the return leg, the smart money would be on McInnes doing the same.

‘Obviously, there are different things you have to do with the second striker next to you,’ Naderi explained.

‘I’m okay if the other striker shines a bit more. I’m someone who likes to work a lot for the team and this doesn’t change even if I’m one striker.

‘Right now, I’m just happy that things are going well.’

Naderi’s goal was the highlight of a match which won’t live long in the memory.

For the most part, McInnes’ new-look squad was laboured and uninspiring.

Against ordinary opposition, they did just enough to merit the win, but it was a display without the bells and whistles attached.

Naderi has no quibble with those supporters who left the stadium unimpressed.

‘I agree, but obviously we don’t play against just ‘some’ opponent,’ he added.

‘We’re here to qualify for the European competitions, so obviously your opponent is tough.

‘I agree that the first half wasn’t amazing, but I’m happy that we kept a clean sheet. That was really important.

‘We had opportunities to score one or two goals more, but it’s just about keeping up the confidence, getting a second win in a row, keeping going and staying focused. I think that’s important.’

McInnes has signed 11 players in this window and it seems sure that there will be more before the window closes on September 3.

While you can understand the frustration felt in the stands at the fact it hasn’t yet clicked, there must be some degree of mitigation for the huge personnel changes the manager has overseen.

‘I think it’s just somehow normal in football. Things change fast,’ added Naderi.

‘It’s about the old players welcoming the new players and the new players adapting quickly.

‘I mean, not everything was horrible in the games before.

‘It’s just that we managed to win those (last two) games now.

‘It’s still progress we’re going through. We still have to improve and I think we’re going in the right direction. We have to keep this up.’

To keep the supporters engaged, playing the game with greater tempo and urgency than they did in the first half on Thursday would be a starting point.

Bluntly, McInnes’ players aren’t helping themselves by taking three or four touches when two will do and consequently failing to pull opponents out of their shape.

Asked if there was a need to get the crowd into the game more by speeding the play up, Naderi replied: ‘Yes, definitely.

‘I think part of the reality is that we just haven’t had the best start and we’re improving.

‘It’s not like you can just switch this off, but it’s about believing in yourself and I’m confident that over time we’ll get better and better.’

With a free weekend to prepare, Rangers should have enough to get through in the tie and at least secure Conference League football until Christmas.

The trip to the small city of Jablonec nad Nisou holds personal significance for Naderi who spent many of his younger days in the country.

‘My story is that my mum is from the Czech Republic. My grandma lives there, so I can speak Czech,’ he explained.

‘It’s not as good as it used to be (going back there), because when I was still a student, I used to go there on holidays.

‘Definitely, I’ll have family there. But for me it’s something special because it’s just qualifying games for a European competition.

‘These are the nights you want to play and this is the special part for me. I don’t care who we play.’