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Rangers manager Steven Gerrard ripped into his team for their second-half performance in the 4-0 win against Dundee at Ibrox on Wednesday night, and his comments might not be positive for midfielder Steven Davis.

What’s the word, then?

When Rangers signed the 34-year-old from Southampton during the January transfer window the expectation surely would have been that he would be a key player for them in the second-half of the campaign, but it hasn’t really worked out that way.

The Northern Ireland international has usually had to settle for a cameo from the substitutes’ bench – as he did against the Dens Park outfit – although he didn’t even get on the pitch in the defeat to Aberdeen at the beginning of February.

The 5ft 8in star replaced Arfield at the break on Wednesday with the scoreline at 3-0, but Gerrard was not impressed with what he saw from his players after the interval, via the BBC: “It’s another clean sheet, it’s another strong win, but there were two sides to us tonight.

“If you compare the first half to the second, it’s completely different. We were outstanding for certainly half an hour. In the second half, I didn’t really recognise us.”

Having a go at Davis?

While the veteran Northern Irishman won’t be getting individual stick from the 38-year-old manager, the fact that he replaced the influential Arfield at half-time for a poor second-half showing suggests he is one of those in the firing line.

The34-year-old simply hasn’t hit the heights following his return to Ibrox last month, and the latest victory was just another example of that.

Davis clearly needs to improve in terms of quality on the ball and movement in the coming weeks and months if he wants to be a regular in the XI, as he is behind the likes of Arfield, Ryan Jack and Glen Kamara for a midfield spot as things stand.