Philippe Clement tipped to hand Ben Davies rare Rangers start v Celtic after Ibrox injury update
Rangers manager Philippe Clement will have to start a centre-back pairing of Ben Davies and John Souttar against Celtic, according to Andy Halliday.
The Light Blues make the trip across Glasgow to Parkhead on Saturday (11 May) as they look to keep their slim title hopes alive, but could be without Leon Balogun after he picked up an injury against Kilmarnock.
With Connor Goldson’s season already over following an injury in training, Halliday believes Clement will have no other option than starting Davies and he expects Dujon Sterling to begin the game at left-back.
Speaking on the Open Goal YouTube channel (6 May, 1:02:47) he said: “I don’t even know who is fit. Who’s fit? It can only be Souttar and Davies. Davies has not played a lot of football has he?
“I’d play Tavernier right back and Sterling left-back, I thought he was Rangers’ best player in the last game. Rangers need to win the game, a draw means absolutely nothing to them.”
Will Leon Balogun be fit to play for Rangers in Old Firm clash with Celtic at Parkhead?
It’s amazing just how quickly things can change in football. It was only a matter of days ago there were suggestions Davies was finished at Ibrox with reports suggesting Clement was keen to sell the Englishman this summer.
Now, it looks as though he could be in line to start the Light Blues biggest game of the season at Parkhead. While that will worry supporters, it doesn’t really seem as though Clement even has a choice.
Davies has barely played any football in the last six months and while he looked reasonably sharp against Kilmarnock, the Hoops will be a completely different test. It remains to be seen whether he will be able to handle the occasion effectively.
It’s not an over-exaggeration to say that the Gers’ entire season has come down to this game. Clement will just be hoping that no matter what side he names, somehow he’ll leave Parkhead with all three points on Saturday.
In other Rangers news, Borna Barisic has been spotted in an altercation with a Gers supporter following the clash with Kilmarnock
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