Rangers boss Steven Gerrard faces a selection dilemma he has not often been graced with in the past ahead of the club’s crunch match with Old Firm rivals Celtic.
The Ibrox gaffer has largely relied on a mixture of the temperamental Alfredo Morelos and veteran Jermain Defoe for these matches, with the Colombian normally pipping the Englishman.
But heading into Saturday afternoon’s match Steven Gerrard could have four fit strikers and a headache regarding which one to choose.
Rangers fans might be as desperate as Colombian firebrand Alfredo Morelos to see the striker burst the net against Celtic.
Whilst the hard-working striker always puts in a shift against our Glasgow rivals, he’s yet to find the net against them in 12 matches.
But with El Bufalo returning from Colombian international duty late it remains to be seen if Rangers boss Steven Gerrard will be able to work the player into his plans on time.
Morelos’ Colombian side are set to play Chile on Wednesday morning UK time at 1:30am in Santiago.
The striker would then need to get back to the UK, survive the jet lag, and avoid picking up the coronavirus, to be passed fit to play.
Fellow hitman Cedric Itten – who earned the acclaim of fans for opening his account with a double v Motherwell – also needs to navigate outside his bubble and return to Ibrox unscathed to be in with a shout of playing, albeit over a significantly shorter distance.
The Swiss striker, 23, is beginning to settle into life at Rangers and after being talked up by Stephane Henchoz over the weekend should certainly have the confidence to lead that line if called upon.
Then there are two strikers who’ve been at the club since the break began, with veteran forward Jermain Defoe lacking minutes this season but already having experience of an Old Firm victory.
The striker led the line superbly in the 2-0 win at Ibrox against Celtic back in May 2019.
Rangers have also been boosted by the news that marquee summer signing and £3.5m man Kemar Roofe has returned to training ahead of the match.
Roofe, 27, was signed to have an impact on this title race and help fire the Ibrox side to glory, with his quality a massive boost in a match of this magnitude should he win the race to be fit.
Whatever the case, Steven Gerrard faces a genuine selection dilemma up front ahead of the match with Celtic; how often has been able to say that as Rangers manager?
