Steven Gerrard has admitted he could make a risky decision on Ryan Kent heading into a crucial week.
Rangers face massive contests against both Hibernian and Celtic at Ibrox this week. Six points would go a long way to proving that the club are genuine title-challengers.
Therefore, the importance of the matches could lead to Gerrard being forced to play his on-loan star. Despite the fact Rangers have both Eros Grezda and Glenn Middleton available down the left, the Rangers manager is weighing up a decision on Kent.
Despite picking up a hamstring injury that he initially recovered from, Kent has been back amongst the physios. Gerrard, however, has claimed he’s close to a return and could feature.
“Ryan is working hard with the physio. It’s a tough one as you can’t rush hamstring injuries.
“He’s not a million miles away and we’re analysing him every day.
“We’re always prepared to listen to the player. If the player tells us it’s fine to take a risk, of course we’ll listen to it. But I’ll always listen to the medical department, they are the experts.
Is it a necessary risk?
Kent is by far Rangers’ best left-winger when he’s on his game. Gerrard also spoke of how you can’t rush hamstring injuries, and he needs to take his own advice on that one.
There’s absolutely no guarantee that the winger will perform to his top levels should he feature this week. It therefore wouldn’t be worth risking or aggravating his hamstring knock just to get one or two performances out of him.
Rangers, as previously mentioned, have options down the left. Middleton can be a tad predictable at times, but showed his worth against St Johnstone. Grezda, meanwhile, is just itching for a breakout performance. Either/or could feature against Hibs and Celtic.
Rangers fans will be delighted to hear that Kent is so close to a recovery regardless. It sounds as though the Celtic clash could be the final game he misses in the worst case scenario.
Would you rush him back to face Hibs or Celtic? Are the games too crucial to let him sit on the sidelines if he could feature? Let us know your opinions on the matter.
