After storming to the SPFL title last season, Rangers have not always had things go as smoothly as they would have liked this time around, having dropped points on eight occasions and seeing Steven Gerrard leave his position to take charge of Aston Villa earlier in the campaign.

27 games into the campaign, the reigning league champions have won 19, drawn six and lost two, scoring 56 and conceding 22 goals along the way.

Despite this, one figure at Ibrox that has undoubtedly been a standout figure for the club and their new manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst is right-back James Tavernier.

Since joining the Scottish club back in the 2015 summer transfer window from Wigan Athletic, the 30-year-old has racked up a total of 327 appearances across all competitions for the Gers, scoring 75 goals and providing 104 assists along the way.

With Connor Goldson being the only other Rangers player to have racked up more minutes in the league than the full-back, who has been described as "unstoppable" by Gerrard, this goes to show how important he is for the team.

In addition to this, the defender has also proved himself to be a real menace in front of goal by racking up six goals and 11 assists, which is more goal contributions than striker Alfredo Morelos has managed to have this season.

From a defensive point of view, Tavernier has also showed how vital he is to the team by making 52 tackles, 20 interceptions and 44 clearances, showing why he was labelled as a "powerhouse" in the past, also by Gerrard.

Taking all of this into account, it's no surprise that the 30-year-old is currently listed as the highest-rated player at Ibrox with an overall performance rating of 7.75/10 from WhoScored, which also makes him the joint-highest rated player in the entire SPFL at this stage of the campaign.

This all shows how much of a crucial component the defender is for Rangers and Van Bronckhorst and why he will be a big factor in their hunt to secure the title again this season, especially if he can keep adding more goals and assists to his tally whilst staying strong at the back.

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