Steven Gerrard has omitted Joe Aribo when providing an injury update ahead of Rangers’ clash with Dundee United [Rangers.co.uk].
The Gers return to action on Saturday following the international break and face a United side who will be looking bounce back following a hammering at Kilmarnock last time out.
Some Bears expressed concerns earlier in the week that Joe Aribo may not be fit for the fixture, given that even though he wasn’t away on international duty, he didn’t feature in the club’s midweek training gallery.
That evidence alone isn’t enough to reach a definitive conclusion but Gerrard’s latest injury update will have done nothing to allay the concerns of those supporters.
Despite Aribo missing the last three Gers matches due to an ankle problem, the manager failed to mention him when discussing those currently making progress in the treatment room.
“It has also been a chance for us to get injured players closer to being back into full training,” said Gerrard, as quoted by Rangers.co.uk.
“So Jermain Defoe is on the verge of that, Cedric Itten is on the verge of that and Jordan Jones, his injury is not as bad as first feared, so we are hoping in a week’s time, we should be in real, good shape from an injury point of view as well.”
Given Aribo’s importance to Rangers’ strongest XI, it’s reasonable to expect that Gerrard would have included him in this update had he had positive news to share.
His lack of comment, though, suggests the fan fears may be well-founded and that the Nigeria international could be set for even more time on the sidelines.
If that turns out to be the case, the club badly misjudged the severity of the player’s problem, given that it was initially hoped that he’d be back for the home clash against Kilmarnock on 22 August.
