Leon Balogun is major Rangers worry vs Celtic as Neil Lennon makes Philippe Clement XI claim
Leon Balogun must play in the Old Firm derby or Rangers will be left with a “real lack of pace” in defence, says Neil Lennon.
The former Celtic boss said on PLZ Soccer’s The Football Show on the night before the game (10 May) that the centre-back’s potential absence is a “worry” for the Light Blues, after Philippe Clement admitted the Nigerian is a doubt for the Parkhead clash ahead of the game.
Balogun only recently supplanted Connor Goldson in the line up before the Englishman then picked up an injury in training and will miss the rest of the season [BBC Sport, 3 May], with Ben Davies now in line to start alongside John Souttar.
Lennon said (20m 35s): “I worry about if Balogun doesn’t play, and there’s a doubt over him. I know he got took off at half time last week, it was more precautionary. He has to play I think otherwise there’s a real lack of pace in that back four.”
Ben Davies to get Rangers nod for Parkhead clash?
It is apparently impossible for Clement to ever negotiate a crucial game as Rangers boss without having to deal with some sort of injury concerns that threaten to have a major bearing on the result.
Most of the issues he has been forced to overcome have been in attack since he arrived in Glasgow, and that certainly hasn’t improved with Abdallah Sima’s return in time for the previous derby last month has proven a brief one and fellow goalscorer in the 3-3 draw Rabbi Matondo is also out, on top of the likes of Danilo and Oscar Cortes.
But it has been the defence that has become the real headache at the business end of the season, and just as the Rangers boss has finally got Ridvan Yilmaz back on the left after an issue that was supposed to be brief but kept him out for six games there is now possibly an even bigger problem in the centre.
Davies’ 45 minutes off the bench in the 4-1 win over Kilmarnock last week was the first time he had been seen in action for six months, and yet the defender who is expected to be surplus to requirements at Ibrox within weeks may now have a vital role in the biggest game of the season so far.
Balogun’s elevation to the starting XI in place of Goldson for the Scottish Cup win over Hearts last month felt like it was overdue given the latter’s struggles for form this term, but for Clement to now face being without either of them takes the injury situation to new levels.
That the 35-year-old Balogun has become such a crucial part of the picture at the back is a poor indictment of the overall shape of the squad in those positions, and he doesn’t even know if he is long for Ibrox, so if he doesn’t make it Davies will get the opportunity to potentially change how a largely forgettable Rangers stay is remembered before he leaves.
In other Rangers news, the Light Blues want to snap up a player who is due to be a free agent within weeks after snubbing a last-gasp effort to keep him where he is.
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