Rangers loanees have dealt regular blows to Neil Lennon’s Celtic across the season and a former Ibrox duo have a big chance to do the same with Aberdeen on Wednesday night.
Celtic have themselves to blame for the majority of their 2020/21 struggles but Gers loan players have also had an influence along the way.
Jamie Murphy scored and notched an assist for Hibernian in a 2-2 Premiership draw with Lennon’s side in November, Stephen Kelly helped Ross County to dump the Hoops out of the League Cup later that month and Robby McCrorie pulled off a number of top saves for Livingston as Celtic dropped two further points at the Tony Macaroni Arena in January.
Now, it’s Ross McCrorie and Florian Kamberi who have a chance to do their old club a favour.
Gers academy graduate McCrorie was only on loan at Pittodrie over the first half of the season, but his switch officially became permanent a little over a fortnight ago as part of the deal that took Scott Wright to Ibrox.
Meanwhile, Kamberi spent time at Ibrox on loan from Hibernian in 2020, lauding the switch as a ‘dream move’. He ultimately wasn’t offered a permanent contract, though, and after an unsuccessful few months in Switzerland with St Gallen, he joined the Dons on loan on deadline day.
Both players have strong chances of starting a league clash at Celtic Park on Wednesday night, with McCrorie recently reestablishing himself in the XI following a brief injury absence and Kamberi fresh from his debut against St Mirren at the weekend.
Dons boss Derek McInnes is under pressure amid a poor run of form, but the recent arrival of Kamberi constitutes a boost and he now has two former Gers in his squad who may well be extra motivated to perform in this game.
A positive result for Aberdeen would give Rangers even more breathing space at the top of the table and pile further pressure on Neil Lennon, with a performance review ongoing at Celtic.
Rangers are in European action against Royal Antwerp on Thursday night and a key player will reach a significant Gers milestone if he’s selected.
