Speaking to the Daily Record, former Northern Ireland international Stephen Craigan has revealed how he sees Steven Davis' balance between club and country going from here. 

How many games did Steven Davis play last season?

Even at 36, Davis' influence for both club and country is still a far-reaching one. 

Indeed, he appeared in 49 club games across all competitions last season including starting 24 of the club's 37 league games during a title-winning season, as well as appearing in eight of their nine Europa League fixtures. 

For Northern Ireland, Davis has played in nine of their last eleven games since football was resumed after the COVID-19 enforced pause, playing at least 70 minutes in all but two of them. 

A crucial figure for both club and country, he became the United Kingdom's most capped outfield player of all time in March by winning his 126th when his country played against Bulgaria. 

How well did Davis play last season? 

Simply looking at goals and assists does not tell the whole story. 

Indeed, although Davis did contribute either, WhoScored data shows he completed the second-highest number of passes per game for Rangers in the league last season (72.4%) at the fourth-highest accuracy rate (88.7%) of anyone to have played over ten games.  

Nobody played more through balls than him either while his 3.7 long balls per game were only bettered by stalwarts Connor Goldson and Allan McGregor. 

For his country, his two key passes per game during the fixtures contested last season was the second-highest average in their registered squad. 

What did Stephen Craigan say about Davis' future? 

While this is clearly a player still capable of making a substantial impact, Craigan did suggest Rangers boss Steven Gerrard would have to talk to Davis about managing his workload soon. 

“From a Rangers perspective I wouldn’t be surprised if Steven Gerrard has had a quiet word to ask what his plans are," he said. 

“I’m guessing there’ll be a conversation down the line whether it’s maybe just competitive games he plays in from now.”

Certainly, that is no reflection on Davis' quality, more an acceptance that it simply cannot go on forever given where he's at in his career. 

What has Steven Gerrard said about Davis? 

With Davis signing a one-year contract extension back in March, Gerrard waxed lyrical about the Ibrox legend. 

"Steven embodies professionalism and continues to set the standards required to be a Rangers player," he said (via BBC Sport).

"He has been instrumental this year, playing a key role in our league success."

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