Rangers have mixed injury news regarding Borna Barisic and Scott Arfield, according to the Scottish Sun.
The pair missed Rangers’ 0-0 draw with Spartak Moscow on Thursday night, and could also both miss Sunday’s clash against Aberdeen in the Betfred Cup semi-final at Hampden. Barisic has been struggling with a muscle rapture since dropping out of Croatia’s senior squad earlier this month. His last appearance was the 1-0 loss at Livingston.
Arfield also suffered an injury whilst on international duty, with a slight hamstring tweak. Rangers have to be careful in dealing with that one, and he’s missed the matches against both Hamilton and Spartak since returning from Canada duty.
He could, however, return for Sunday as he’s yet to be ruled out by Steven Gerrard.
Is one worth the risk?
Rangers don’t particularly have a weak squad. In truth, they have the strongest squad in depth and quality they’ve had for many years. Such is the quality of job that Gerrard has carried out at Ibrox, Rangers look on their way back.
Yet, Arfield in particular has become a key cog in that Gers midfield this season. Everyone could see his influence was missing from both the Accies win and the Moscow draw. Rangers have lacked a bit of cutting edge in the number 10 position, and Arfield brings that.
Hamstring injuries are such delicate situations, and Rangers won’t want to lose the Canadian star long-term. He will be play a key role almost as soon as he returns, and is likely to be thrown back in eventually when the time is right.
But at the same time, this game against Aberdeen is one Rangers cannot afford to lose. Despite the progress made by Gerrard, he’ll want something tangible to show for it. The Betfred Cup can provide that.
The likelihood is that Arfield probably misses out and Gerrard trusts the squad he has to get the job done.
Barisic won’t come in if there’s any doubt, with Jon Flanagan available in reserve. Flanagan wasn’t impressive against Spartak, but that was a rare off-night for a usually reliable wing-back.
Rangers will just be hoping that they can get the job done on Sunday regardless of team selection. As it stands, however, apparently both Barisic and Arfield could indeed miss out.
