Patrick Bamford made his first appearance this season as a late substitute at Southampton but it was in midweek he made his mark.
Introduced in the 65th minute, he stretched Rangers in a way they had not been before, regularly running behind onto balls over the top. The man who has done the No 9 job for most of the season, Georginio Rutter, move to the right wing.
“It’s top to have an option like Patrick,” said Farke. “It’s always good to have a player with the quality, the experience but also the character of Patrick Bamford.
“It’s good to have those options and hopefully we keep them all fit.”
With Joel Piroe scoring four in seven games, Dan James also effective from the bench and Crysencio Summerville deciding Wednesday’s game, perming four forwards will be pleasingly difficult at home to Bristol City on Saturday.
When asked how he will do it, Farke replied: “The last performance is always important but also performances in the last weeks, the performance in training gives you a feeling if the player’s ready, tactical necessities, how they recover in such a busy spell, everything you take into account and hopefully you make some good decisions.”
“I would be happy if Willy Gnonto was also fit, there’s always something new (posing a challenge). When you think, ‘Okay, everything’s on track, here we go,’ there’s another setback with an injury or illness.
