Borna Barisic’s hamstring has come back to haunt him yet again today against St Johnstone.
Rangers’ 2-1 win at McDiarmid Park came at a price. Despite the highly-impressive comeback from Steven Gerrard’s charges, they watched as star-man Barisic went down and had to be substituted for Lee Wallace in the first half.
Many will have been fearful going into the match of picking up any more injuries. Scott Arfield is already highly likely to miss the Old Firm, whilst Connor Goldson and Gareth McAuley had been carrying knocks.
And unfortunately, their worst fears have been realised. With massive games against Hibs and Celtic coming up this week, Gerrard has confirmed Barisic will miss both.
Speaking after the St Johnstone win in the Daily Record, Gerrard confirmed his star-man’s injury.
MORE RANGERS STORIES
“Yeah, very disappointing because he’s been very good and he gives us good balance there so disappointed because it’s his third injury of the season.
“The kid is disappointed and so are we.
“He’ll be out until we return again in the new year.”
Renaissance man is the natural replacement
We’ve gotten so used to calling Andy Halliday the renaissance man in recent times. In truth, however, Lee Wallace is carrying the threat of taking that tag off of him.
He was the natural replacement for Barisic in the St Johnstone game, and got a good, competant hour under his belt. It’s only right that Wallace is again trusted with the role against Hibs and Celtic this week.
Outside of that, Jon Flanagan is available, but has a track record of horrendous errors at left-back for Rangers. He’s a natuiral right-sided player, and playing him against the likes of the opposition coming up is dangerous.
There is always the chance that Gerrard pulls back Halliday to perform at left-back once again. In truth, however, he performs at his best in a central position, and deserves the opportunity to operate there in the coming matches.
More pertinently, however, is the constant injury knocks that Barisic is receiving. He’s only just back from a long-term knock, with this now being his third of the season. Rangers will want to get to the bottom of this and soon, as constant rotation in that position isn’t ideal.
For now, however, it remains a huge blow for the club on a mixed day.