Gerrard all but rules two Rangers players out of clash v Celtic
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has all but ruled Joe Aribo and Kemar Roofe out of the Old Firm derby against Celtic on Saturday.
The Gers will their way to Parkhead for the first Old Firm derby of the season this weekend, with a win being enough to send them four points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership standings.
Aribo, 24, has not played since August 12 due to an ankle injury and a setback he suffered during his recovery period.
Roofe, 27, has been out since September 12 and although both players are close to returning, neither are going to be ready in time to face Neil Lennon’s side.
Speaking in a pre-match press conference on Friday, Gerrard said: “We are still assessing the international players who have arrived. We won’t have a full update on the international boys until later today.
“Joe Aribo and Roofe are really close but this game may be a little bit too soon for them to return.”
It would be nice if Rangers had all of their players available but due to the manic start to the season, it was always likely that players would suffer injury issues.
Not having Aribo is a blow as he’s one of the most talented midfielders at Ibrox but the Gers have shown they can cope without him by winning eight of the 10 matches he’s missed.
As for Roofe, Rangers have plenty of depth in the attack to be able to cope without the ex-Leeds man.
It remains to be seen whether Alfredo Morelos is available after his international duty with Colombia but Gerrard does have Jermain Defoe and Cedric Itten if needs be.
We’d rather see Morelos start. It’s about time he scores in an Old Firm derby and we feel this would be a massive opportunity for him to prove a lot of doubters wrong.
We’ll have to wait and see whether or not he’ll get that chance though.
In other Rangers news, Charlie Adam has hit out at a fan for criticising Ryan Jack’s display for Scotland.