Filip Helander looks to have dropped down the pecking order at Rangers after his surprise omission against Benfica on Thursday night.
Helander has had his fair share of injury problems since joining the Gers for £4m from Bologna in the summer of 2019 [STV], but he’s managed to stay fit for some time now and looked to have established himself at centre-back.
Steven Gerrard has been keen to rotate Connor Goldson’s partners, but Helander was given the nod for the Old Firm in October and prior to the international break, he’d played around double the number of minutes afforded to summer signing, Leon Balogun.
However, a shaky performance in the 3-3 draw with Benfica earlier in the month seems to have cost him his place.
Individuals errors from the Sweden international led directly to the hosts’ first two goals before both he and Goldson were caught flat-footed for their late equaliser.
Since then, Helander has missed out against Hamilton and Aberdeen, before being named on the bench again on Thursday night.
His omissions for two Premiership fixtures either side of an international break could have been dismissed as workload management.
However, a third consecutive snub for what was a big European tie, suggests a shift in the pecking order.
With George Edmundson back in training but banned until the end of December and Nikola Katic still out injured, Helander has a near-guaranteed spot in matchday squads for the foreseeable future.
However, while he may well be given the nod when the Gers ring the changes at Falkirk on Sunday, it looks as though, for now, his shaky performance in Lisbon has cost him his spot in Gerrard’s best XI.
