Rangers manager Michael Beale has been responding to fitness fears surrounding Borna Barisic after the defender suggested he was exhausted after the World Cup.
The Ibrox boss was speaking after 30-year-old left-back Borna joined the Croatia squad for the tournament in Qatar and helped his country to finishing 3rd in the Middle East.
But despite being part of the squad, Barisic only actually played in one game with the defender playing the entire match as Croatia ran out penalty kick winners after a 1-1 draw with Japan.
Nonetheless, whilst speaking on a trip back to Osijek after the tournament, Barisic claimed that he was mentally and physically exhausted from the excursion in ominous comments regarding the player’s fitness.
Rangers are currently employing teenage right-back Adam Devine at left-back with both Borna Barisic and summer signing Ridvan Yilmaz (hamstring) unavailable.
“I wore myself out to the maximum – both physically and mentally,” said Barisic, in an ominous message about his fitness.
“Honestly, the tournament was very stressful Japan was the worst for me because I played and of course, it went to penalties too.”
Michael Beale offers Rangers Borna Barisic explanation
Michael Beale was then unsurprisingly asked questions about the situation in his next press conference with the Rangers boss offering something of an explanation.
Barisic is due to be back with the first-team for the clash with Motherwell on the 28th and Beale claims it was important Rangers let the defender handle his commitments in Croatia.
”Listen I think we can look at that (the comments) because obviously he only played in the one game but he has been training nonstop in that period as well,” said Beale [Rangers].
”There’s a big burden when you play for your country and you’re travelling, the emotion inside that camp of getting to a semi-final and losing, so I think you’ve got to put that all in.
”I wanted to give him a few days afterwards because there was a couple of things back home, commitments for the whole squad that they had to go.
”He had a commitment with the full national team and he had a commitment with the full national team in his hometown as well and its important I don’t take that away from him.
”He’s an expectant father as well, his fiancé’s expecting, so there’s a lot of things in the background.
”So we’re going to give him a couple of days, he’ll be back here Boxing Day and ready to play Motherwell on the 28th, if selected.
”There’s a young Scottish full back doing quite well at the moment in our team so let’s not kick him out the team before he deserves to lose his shirt.”
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