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Rangers reportedly have two injury fears going into the Old-Firm derby, it’s a real concern – opinion
I haven’t seen an Old Firm yet that wasn’t a “must-win” for the supporters, but this Sunday’s clash at Ibrox is looking more and more like it will have a major bearing on the outcome of this season’s cinch Scottish Premiership title race.
When the stakes are this high the last thing you need when prepping for the game is for any of your international players to become injury doubts.
Yet, reports emerging this week have indicated just that, with Alfredo Morelos and Aaron Ramsey seemingly a doubt for the high noon Sunday showdown. But is this all just paper talk or is there any substance to the rumours?
If Rangers can get these two firing on all cylinders come Sunday it could make all the difference in a match that Ally McCoist has said “I don’t think Rangers can afford to get beat”. Without them, it could be a long afternoon in Govan.
Morelos was seen with major strapping on his thigh after he was taken off in the closing moments of Rangers’ late show in Dundee, but still travelled to Columbia with his national side, where they confirmed a “muscle injury to his left thigh”.
The hope with Morelos is that the Rangers medical team seemed to catch his injury early with the ice strapping and that they’ve come up with a plan which will get the Colombian on the pitch come midday on Sunday.
For Welsh lynchpin Ramsey, it certainly seemed more like accumulated fatigue, than any general injury. Having played 83 minutes at the Kilmac Stadium, he then featured for the full 95 minutes of Wales’ pulsating 2-1 victory over Austria in World Cup Qualification. That’s a lot of football in a short period when you’ve hardly played for months.
Wales manager Rob Page confirmed as much yesterday. “There’s no injury. We have to show respect to the clubs as well. We have their players.” Even without an actual injury though, it would be a surprise for Ramsey to feature for the whole 90 minutes against Celtic, given his current match fitness. I suppose that time will tell on that front.