Rangers trio Joe Aribo, Leon Balogun and Calvin Bassey will all be available for the Old Firm derby
Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst has confirmed that Joe Aribo, Leon Balogun and Calvin Bassey will all be available for the Old Firm clash against Celtic on January 2nd.
The trio are expected to be called up to the Nigeria squad for the Africa Cup of Nations, which starts on January 9.
FIFA rules state that national teams can require their players to join up as early as 14 days before the start of a tournament, which threatened to jeopardise Rangers’s derby preparations.
However, in his press conference today (17 December) van Bronckhorst asserted that the team’s Nigerian players would not leave for AFCON until after the Celtic game.
“They will be there 100 per cent,” he said. “For me, it was clear that we will release them after the Old Firm game so we have the full squad until we go into the winter break.”
Huge boost
This is excellent news for Rangers and ends all the worry and speculation about the availability of Aribo, Balogun and Bassey for the Old Firm.
If they had been forced to miss the crucial fixture, then van Bronckhorst would have been without his star midfielder and two of his centre-back options.
Aribo has set the Scottish Premiership alight this season and really come into his own under the Dutchman, scoring three goals in five league games since his arrival.
Balogun is yet to play for van Bronckhorst due to injury, but will be one of the first names on the team sheet when fit.
Bassey is naturally a left-back but has slid across to play in the centre of defence in Balogun’s absence and has become an unsung hero with his performances.
In other Rangers news, a Scottish international has joked about Steven Gerrard’s exit from Ibrox.