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Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has hinted with his team selection that Umar Sadiq does not figure in his long-term plans.

What's the word?

After the former Liverpool captain was appointed as the new Rangers boss, he moved quickly in the transfer window.

The inexperienced coach brought in 15 new players and one of them was Sadiq, who signed from Roma on a season-long loan.

Since then the forward has struggled to break into the team and has been restricted to just four appearances in all competitions.

In fact, in 11 Premiership outings Sadiq has only been in the matchday squad four times.

What happened at the weekend?

Gerrard has not said outright that he has no intention of holding on to Sadiq, but his team selection said plenty.

Kyle Lafferty was ruled out of Saturday's game against St Mirren, which would have left a vacancy for another attacker.

Gerrard opted not to give Sadiq a chance, though, despite playing him in the League Cup semi-final against Aberdeen.

The 2-0 victory over St Mirren would have given the 21-year-old Nigerian a decent opportunity to prove what he can do.

However, it looks as though Sadiq will be considering his options once more when the season comes to an end.

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