Rangers manager Steven Gerrard must bring Filip Helander back into his starting XI for the Europa League playoff second leg against Alashkert.
Helander was involved in Euro 2020 with Sweden and therefore missed a large chunk of Gers pre-season.
That’s perhaps been a factor in the manager’s decision to leave him out of more matches than he’s played so far this campaign.
The 28-year-old has only made three appearances, featuring against Malmö and Dundee United away from home and in the EL playoff first leg against the Armenian champions at Ibrox.
Only one of those matches went the Light Blues’ way, but Gerrard labelled Helander ‘Champions League level’ after the Malmö game [RangersTV] and he is the best man to partner Connor Goldson at the back.
Prior to the 1-0 defeat at Tannadice earlier this month, the big Swede hadn’t lost a league match since joining the club from Bologna in the summer of 2019.
He’s not blessed with much pace and he can look ungainly at times, but his decision-making and positioning are much better than Leon Balogun’s, while he’s a much more experienced and complete defender than Jack Simpson.
Balogun rarely let Gerrard down last season but the Nigeria international really struggled in the Champions League qualifying defeat to Malmö at Ibrox and was exposed again at times against Ross County on Sunday.
Ahead of a game in which a clean sheet would guarantee qualification for the Europa League group stages, bringing back Helander is surely a no-brainer.
Given his injury history, he can’t play every game.
However, the constant tinkering with the back four (five) over the opening weeks of the season has been disruptive and ahead of massive European and domestic fixtures against Alashkert and Celtic, it’s time to give big Fil a run in the side.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the pitch, a Gers attacker is eyeing a remarkable achievement.
