Rangers senior player suffers injury blow while on international duty – report
Rangers defender Leon Balogun reportedly suffered an injury while playing for Nigeria in their 4-4 draw against Sierra Leone on Friday, according to Premium Times Nigeria.
Balogun, 32, was substituted off in the 65th minute to be replaced by West Brom’s Semi Ajayi as the Gers defender was “not looking comfortable” after a late challenge on him.
Nigeria were 4-1 up when Balogun was taken off but ended up conceding in the 72nd, 81st and 86th minutes to fall to a shock draw in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying group.
It remains to be seen how serious Balogun’s injury is but based on what was said on Premium Times Nigeria’s website, it cannot be too bad.
However there was speculation among Nigerian football fans on Twitter as to whether or not the ex-Brighton defender will be able to play in Nigeria’s next match, which is again versus Sierra Leone in AFCON qualifying.
Here is what some of the Nigeria fans said:
Balogun has not been one of Steven Gerrard’s main centre-backs for Rangers this season with the Gers boss seemingly preferring Filip Helander to partner Connor Goldson.
However, the Nigeria international has still made eight appearances in all competitions this term and has helped Gerrard keep his side fit and fresh with regular rotation.
Rangers’ defence barely had to break a sweat in their last game when they beat Hamilton 8-0 at Ibrox on Sunday with Balogun playing all 90 minutes.
If he’s injured then Helander will likely return to the defence to partner Goldson when the Light Blues play Aberdeen next weekend in the Scottish Premiership.
But we’d rather he wasn’t set for a spell on the sidelines and is available for Nigeria next week, as well as Rangers.
In other Rangers news, fans were wowed by this youngster’s international display with one supporter calling him “world-class”.