Rangers defender Filip Helander is set to play a key role for Rangers on Thursday night in the Europa League fixture against Lech Poznan.
The Gers stumped up £3m [Scotsman] to sign the 27-year-old from Bologna last summer and he’s had more than his fair share of injury troubles since then.
However, he was a go-to man for Steven Gerrard in Europe last season, playing five of the six group stage matches and impressing particularly in the home win over Feyenoord and the draw in Porto.
The Sweden international is a big game player but he’s also brought consistency over the early part of the 2020/21 season.
Despite missing much of pre-season, he’s been near flawless since his return to fitness. He’s made 11 appearances to date and the Gers have only conceded three times when he’s been on the pitch.
Connor Goldson has rightly received a lot of praise as the leader of the defence but Helander deserves plenty of credit of his own.
After all, the Old Firm could have gone very differently had he not pulled off that outstanding last-ditch block from Mohamed Elyounoussi just five minutes into the game.
The big Swede is set to play a key role again on Thursday night as the Gers look to back up their opening day win in Belgium.
Lech Poznan are currently struggling in domestic football and they slipped up once again at the weekend.
However, they had plenty of joy in attack against Benfica on the opening matchday, landing nine shots on target and scoring twice.
The Polish side also scored 13 goals across four Europa League qualifiers, so Rangers cannot afford to take them lightly.
Helander isn’t blessed with great pace but he’s physically imposing and perhaps most importantly, he reads the game exceptionally well.
The centre-back has snuffed out many an opposition attack already this season and if he’s at his best against Lech Poznan, the Gers have every chance of taking three points from their first home assignment in Group D.
Ahead of the game, check out our Preview Video over on the Rangers News YouTube channel.
