Rangers left-back Borna Barisic has been declared free from injury by Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic after controversially missing the weekend’s defeat to Celtic.
The 30-year-old defender was subbed off late on in the club’s Champions League humiliation to PSV Eindhoven and drew criticism from supporters for how eager he was to leave the field.
But after also missing the weekend’s spirit-crushing 1-0 defeat to Old Firm rivals Celtic at Ibrox, Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic claims Borna Barisic is now free from injury.
The Croatian national team are set for a European Championship double-header against Latvia (H) and Armenia (A) as they look to qualify for the tournament in Germany.
“Borna Barisic has had an injury, but the tests we did on him showed that it was nothing serious and he is fit and available for the games,” Dalic said.
“He will be fine. We don’t have much time to train and prepare because the games come up very fast. We know what we can do and we will show it.”
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Borna Barisic free from injury for Croatia
The news will certainly raise a few eyebrows amongst Rangers fans.
There is a perception regarding the defender’s soft mentality and fans felt Borna Barisic took the minor injury as a chance to duck out of the Euro mauling in the Netherlands.
When Rangers manager Michael Beale suggested that Borna Barisic had gotten the injury all-clear ahead of the match with Celtic its a suggestion which then intensified.
Fan frustrations would then be even more evident when the ex-NK Osijek captain was dropped completely for the Old Firm clash with Dujon Sterling starting at left-back.
Rangers played the clash against their Old Firm rivals with four right-footed defenders with yet more calamity defending costing the club in a 1-0 defeat.