Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst insists he is not worried about his players walking a suspension tightrope against Red Star – despite the appointment of a card-happy referee.
The Dutch coach was answering questions from the press ahead of the match with Alfredo Morelos, John Lundstram, Joe Aribo and Fashion Sakala all one yellow away from a ban.
Responding calmly, van Bronckhorst claimed that despite the Rangers suspension situation it will not affect his preparations or selection for the game.
“Only two players not available with injury, Hagi and Davis,” said van Bronckhorst [Rangers].
“We still have to train before we travel. We have a big squad to take with us to face a strong opponent.
“We can expect an opponent who will do everything to overcome last week, for us it starts all over again.
“Obviously when you play so many games in Europe you will have players one yellow card away from suspension but this won’t impact our approach selecting our team and is the same for everyone.
“We will take our strongest eleven possible and do everything to win this tie.”
Card-happy ref takes charge of Ranges v Red Star amid suspension fears
These comments come despite the fact the referee for tonight’s match – Romanian whistler Istvan Kovacs – boasts a stern yellow card record.
Kovacs has dished out a rather incredible 155 yellow cards already this season, with six reds on top, so we’re tipping plenty of yellows in this match.
The Romanian referee has also sent of a total of 155 players in his career so it might be worth considering that there could be a red card in the clash.
Rangers are taking a 3-0 lead to Serbia and will be hoping it proves a solid foundation for reaching the Europa League quarter-finals, avoiding any suspension issues in the process.
Here’s how we fancy Rangers to line up against Red Star Belgrade as they vie for a place in the Europa League last eight.
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