With Celtic arriving at Ibrox looking to go 17 points clear in the Scottish Premiership table, Philippe Clement’s Rangers could hardly have picked a worse time to suffer an injury crisis.
The prospect of a fully fit Gers backline going toe-to-toe with Celtic’s fearsome attack is enough to keep even those most glass-half-full supporters waking up in cold sweats.
But, with the news that captain James Tavernier is unavailable for Thursday’s Old Firm derby, Clement now has three members of his first-choice back-five unavailable. And that’s without mentioning the versatile Neraysho Kasanwirjo, facing another few months on the sidelines.
Liam Kelly will step in for goalkeeper Jack Butland – the former England international admits that his absence has come ‘at an awful time’ – while a man dubbed Rangers’ ‘best defender’ by Clement, the imperious John Souttar, is not yet ready to return.
This, coupled with Tavernier’s absence, leaves the home side relying upon a hodge-podge, mishmash of a backline against the most potent attacking force in the country.
Kris Boyd suggests Leon King role for Rangers against Celtic
Clement is likely to start Dujon Sterling at right-back against Celtic. Having played at centre-half in the last three Premiership fixtures, the former Chelsea youngster will probably now shift across to cover Tavernier’s absence.
That, however, opens up a gap in the middle.
Rangers icon Kris Boyd wonders if this could bring about a rare opportunity for forgotten man Leon King, with Clement admitting that namesake Leon Balogun is facing a race against time to be involved as well.
“I really don’t know where Rangers go [without Tavernier],” a nervous Boyd sighs. “Do you bring Leon King in and put Sterling to right-back?
“There is enough injury problems for Rangers right now as it stands. You are probably going into this game saying that you’re needing Celtic to have an off-day and for Rangers to play at their maximum.
“And that still might not be enough given the firepower Celtic have.”
King, still only 20 and viewed as one of the most promising youngsters in Scotland not so long ago, has barely had a sniff under Clement. He has not made a single Premiership appearance all season, and has only been included in the matchday squad on eight occasions.
As such, it feels very unlikely that Clement will throw King in at the deepest of deep ends with his job potentially on the line and another Old Firm humiliation a real possibility.
Boyd feels that Rangers could do worse than Jonny Evans – the Manchester United veteran – with defensive reinforcements a must during the January transfer window.
As things stand, however, Clement must make do with the admittedly limited options at his disposal.
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Philippe Clement concerned about Rangers’ injuries amid Leon Balogun doubts
“There’s a very, very, small chance that Leon Balogun can return. We will see,” Clement told a press conference on Tuesday. “For the rest, nobody will come back.
“We lose Tav also, who got an injury at the end of the game [against Motherwell]. He could continue, but we took a scan and there’s clear damage there that he will be out for a few weeks.
“It’s a blow and every injury is a blow. We had a few blows in that way in the last weeks, the last months, first with Nana [Kasanwirjo], then with John, then with Leon Balogun and Ridvan before and now Tav. It’s about finding solutions and looking for solutions and working out of that.
“So that’s what the team has been doing in all that time, and they did well. Only the last two games, we [conceded] goals a little bit out of nothing. Not with really clear mistakes or being out of structure, totally not. But in these last two games, every time you have a shot on goal, it’s almost a goal.
Those are the things that sometimes happen in football.”
