‘Aye he’ll be back’ – Some Rangers fans tip one player to return to Gerrard XI v Hamilton

Fri 6 November 2020 14:10, UK

Rangers fans want to see Leon Balogun return to Steven Gerrard’s starting line-up for the Scottish Premiership clash with Hamilton Accies at Ibrox on Sunday.

The Light Blues saw their nine-match winning streak come to an end in Estadio da Luz on Thursday when they drew 3-3 with Benfica in the Europa League group stages.

Filip Helander was largely at fault for two of Benfica’s three goals – especially the first one when he failed to clear his lines before Connor Goldson ended scoring an unfortunate own goal.

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Helander, 27, has been largely solid for Rangers this season, helping them keep nine clean sheets in 13 of his appearances across all competitions.

In recent weeks, the Sweden international has impressed fans but one bad match appears to have undone a lot of his hard work and the fickle nature of football supporters has led to a lot of Rangers fans calling for him to be dropped when Hamilton make their way to Govan this weekend.

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Gerrard has rotated his centre-backs this season so it was always likely that Balogun, 32, would come in for Helander on Sunday.

But Rangers fans are demanding that change is made by the Gers manager, with one saying that former Brighton man Balogun “has to start”.

Here is a selection of their tweets:

I think last nights game was his worst performance for us , Goldson wasn’t exactly great either but they are both still our best defenders I think FH will drop out Sunday and either Bassey or Balogun will come in
— Scott (@55ilverFox_55) November 6, 2020

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https://twitter.com/cw1873/status/1324625626976997377

If we were gonna have a defensive lapse where we concede 3 goals I’d rather it’s away to benfica where we draw 3-3 than against Hamilton, killie, Aberdeen etc.
Plus Helander can come out for Balogun for Sunday so it’s not a big deal overall.
— Nathan (@nathanj3001) November 5, 2020

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https://twitter.com/scotthamilton_1/status/1324438093395599361

Folk slaughtering Helander is harsh. Yes, he was poor, as was Goldson for their equaliser.
That said, Balogun will be in on Sunday. The rotation of our Centre halves is something i will never ever get my head around.
— 🇬🇧 cozy1872 🇬🇧 (@cozy1872) November 5, 2020

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https://twitter.com/Darreng71829879/status/1324670535574441984

Balogun has to start before Helander in every match
— Stoobz74 (@stoobz74) November 6, 2020

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Aye he’ll be back in.
— john (@jjmckenzie21) November 6, 2020

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Balogun has made eight appearances in all competitions for Rangers this season with his last outing against Kilmarnock last week when he came off the bench to help close out a 1-0 win at Rugby Park.

Why Gerrard didn’t throw an extra centre-back on to protect the lead against Benfica on Thursday night is a mystery because the 32-year-old has played well when he’s been handed opportunities.

With Nikola Katic injured, Goldson and Helander are perhaps Gerrard’s first-choice centre-backs but Balogun must be increasing the pressure on Helander.

And that’s mainly because he’s playing so well and not because of one bad game by Helander on Thursday.

In other Rangers news, Ally McCoist was raving about this player’s “fantastic” display against Benfica.