Rangers defender Leon Balogun has scarcely put a foot wrong when called upon at Ibrox.
The big Nigerian centre-back, 36, has finally found a home in football at Rangers and is now in his second spell experiencing the highs and lows of life at Ibrox.
Such is the big man’s dependability, there were no nerves when Leon Balogun came off the bench against Tottenham Hotspur in midweek.
Indeed, most of the fans’ nerves centred around a potential injury to key Rangers defender John Souttar, who is now a major doubt for the Premier Sports Cup Final v Celtic.
With Philippe Clement coy about Souttar’s situation, Leon Balogun faced the press ahead of the Old Firm clash at Hampden.
And the Rangers defender has told Philippe Clement that he ‘expects’ to play against Celtic as he laments the loss of his ‘monumental’ teammate.
Leon Balogun ‘expects’ to play v Celtic
”To be honest I expect to start actually,” Balogun told the press ahead of the game.
“Especially now with seemingly John (Souttar) being out for I don’t know how long, but if you come off like that usually that’s not so great.
”That’s the only thing. I take it with a pinch of salt. I was very happy to play (V Spurs) because I didn’t start, I would’ve liked to.
”Then I still got my minutes, a big amount as well, but obviously the way that isn’t happened is not ideal.
”Soutts has been very good for in recent weeks especially, he’s been a monumental part for us.
”So I hope that we don’t have miss out or he doesn’t need to miss out for long.”
’Perfect symbiosis’ between Rangers and fans
Leon Balogun reckons the atmosphere in the 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur has set Rangers up perfectly for the Premier Sports Cup Final against Celtic.
The Nigerian international has hailed what he claims was a ‘perfect symbiosis’ between the Rangers team and the Ibrox fans in Glasgow.
And Balogun has urged his teammates to continue that into the Old Firm clash with Celtic, with everyone in the Rangers dressing room abundantly aware of what’s expected of them.
”Obviously it was very bouncy in the stadium,” said Balogun.
“I would like to think that it brought everybody involved in the club around here and the supporters closer together.
“My personal interpretation and understanding of what happened yesterday was that I think the supporters wanted to make sure we know what we have to do on Sunday anyway.
”The performance we displayed last night was the perfect symbiosis to really get the place going.
”For me personally, it was really nice to see Ibrox like that again because it’s been a while.
”But to be fair it’s been the last two games leading into Tottenham where we kind of built something already, it was a lot more reassuring the way that we played.
”I think right now (we’re) in a very good place but it’s about keeping that momentum going.”
