Rangers FC picked up their first win of the Scottish Premiership this weekend with a 2-0 victory over St Mirren and now the Light Blues travel to Slovenia in order to take on Maribor in the second leg of the Europa League qualifiers.
But before the game, there were some serious injury concerns over a number of the first team players.
And now manager Steven Gerrard has shed light on each and every player who has injury concerns and has also talked about his participation against Maribor.
1. Ryan Jack:
The defensive midfielder took a heavy blow to the head during Rangers’ first league game of the season vs Aberdeen which made him miss both the first leg against Maribor as well as the win vs St Mirren. But the manager has confirmed that the player is fit and back in contention for the midweek trip to Slovenia.
Gerrard said: “Ryan is back in full training today (Tuesday) so assuming he gets through today and tomorrow he will be available for selection.
“It could be a huge boost because I think he is in great form and I think he has played a very important role for us so far.
“I think when you are going away from home and you have a slight advantage you want to put people in your team that are going to help you get a positive result and Ryan comes into that bracket.”
2. Lassana Coulibaly:
The midfielder has been one of the mainstays for Gerrard’s side since joining the club during the summer but he limped off during Rangers’ win against St Mirren this Sunday which has raised some concerns over his availability during midweek.
The boss has claimed that the midfielder has recovered pretty well but the club will take a late decision over his selection for the Maribor game.
“Lassana has recovered quite well and we don’t think it is a big issue, we think it is more down to maybe fatigue,” Gerrard said.
“He has posted some very big numbers in the last couple of games, in terms of distances and high speed so I think it is just is body letting him know that he might need a little bit of a break at some point.
“It is a big game Thursday and we will have to wait and see what he is like in the next 48 hours before we make a decision on him.”
3. Scott Arfield:
The 29-year-old like Jack missed the game vs St Mirren on Sunday which led to reports that the midfielder is also injured but Gerrard has confirmed that Arfield was merely rested for the game since he came back from an injury. He also added that Scott Arfield is available for selection during midweek.
Talking about Scott Arfield, the manager said: “Scott was just rested at the weekend, he had two or three weeks out with his knee and then he came back and played two full games, one of them was with ten men against Aberdeen.
“We had to protect him at the weekend so the idea was just to rest him; he had a little bit of a small issue but nothing major. Thankfully we got a win and actually rested him which is good.”
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