Steven Gerrard provided a fitness update on Jon Flanagan on Friday morning, as quoted by the Official Rangers Twitter.
The full-back has been sidelined for over a month through injury, missing a significant number of matches.
Following the Old Firm defeat to Celtic at the beginning of September, he was forced to undergo hernia surgery for the second time in a matter of months [Daily Record].
The first time around, the procedure ruled him out of a couple of weeks of pre-season, but the return action was relatively speedy.
This time, though, the process wasn’t quite so straightforward. Gerrard claimed in mid-September that Flanagan was about 10 days away from a return [Daily Record], but it’s been over a month since then.
Now, it seems that he’s finally fit again and could return to the squad against Hearts on Sunday.
Rangers defender Flanagan fit again – should Barisic be worried?
Before injury struck, the ex-Liverpool defender seemed to have the manager’s trust at left-back, especially for the big games.
However, since he’s been out, Borna Barisic has taken his place. In the past, opportunities such as this had presented themselves to the Croatian international, and he’d failed to take them.
This time around, though, he really stepped up to the mark and barely put a foot wrong in six consecutive starts.
He’s had a heavy workload recently, given that he played 180 minutes for his country last week.
Yet, while the return of Flanagan provides another option, Barisic’s position shouldn’t be under threat.
He’s been defensively solid and offers a lot more in attack than Flanagan, as we’ve seen through his crossing and free-kick prowess in recent weeks.
Therefore, despite the increase in competition, it would be a major surprise if he didn’t start Sunday’s crunch clash at Tynecastle.
