Rangers have been handed a positive injury lift as their Ibrox stars have returned back from friendlies and World Cup qualifiers this week…
What’s the talk?
Gio van Bronckhorst has confirmed that Alfredo Morelos and Ianis Hagi are the only injury concerns for the Gers heading into the weekend’s Old Firm clash.
No other players have come back with knocks from representing their countries, and they are all set to be available for selection on Sunday.
The club’s official Twitter account quote Van Bronckhorst as saying: “All the players returned fit, only Hagi & Morelos are missing.”
Delight
The Ibrox faithful will be delighted with this news, as it means the vast majority of the players came back from international duty without any setbacks, providing the Dutchman with a big boost as he has not lost multiple first-team assets.
For instance, Joe Aribo and Leon Balogun started both of Nigeria’s clashes with Ghana. They lost on away goals after drawing 0-0 and 1-1 in their World Cup qualifying play-off, which means that they will not be heading to the tournament later this year. Thankfully for Rangers, they did not sustain any knocks from these matches and will be fit to face Celtic this week.
Aaron Ramsey coming back without any issues will leave supporters particularly buzzing given how bleak his situation looked halfway through the international break.
Wales manager Rob Page revealed that the midfielder was dealing with a knock after their 2-1 win over Austria in their play-off. The 47-year-old told Sky Sports, via STV: “They both (Ramsey & Bale) struggled towards the end of the game. You could see both of them were holding their groins and hamstrings.”
He was then left out against the Czech Republic earlier this week, potentially leaving Gers fans worrying about his fitness. However, Van Bronckhorst’s comments suggest that the 31-year-old will be fit enough to play in the Old Firm clash.
Ramsey has the quality to have a major impact against Celtic after missing out on the teams’ last meeting two months ago. He made his first Premiership start against Dundee last time out and scored the equaliser in the 2-1 win, showing off his predatory instinct in the penalty area as he was perfectly positioned to follow up into an empty net after Kemar Roofe’s header was saved.
Supporters will therefore be excited to see what the Welshman can do against the Hoops, as his goalscoring touch from midfield could be key to picking up the three points. He produced 130 goal contributions throughout his time at Arsenal in England and managed 12 goals and assists combined in 65 outings for Juventus in Italy, which shows that he knows how to be a difference-maker at the top level, and his availability for Sunday will be a big boost for the Gers.
AND in other news, Rangers had a major disaster on “complete” 243 G/A ace who’s “like Harry Potter”…