Liam Kelly to start v Athletic Bilbao after Jack Butland ‘disasters’ at Rangers
Barry Ferguson has a decision to make regarding Jack Butland ahead of Rangers hosting Athletic Bilbao in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.
Rangers’ woes at Ibrox continued as they succumbed to their fifth consecutive defeat at home against Hibernian on Saturday (5 April), courtesy of goals from Dylan Levitt and Martin Boyle.
Butland was at fault for Hibernian’s opener just eight minutes into the game, as he failed to deal with what should have been a routine save.
The Light Blues thus found themselves in trouble against Hibs and ultimately paid the price as they suffered a 2-0 loss.
Ferguson to drop Butland v Athletic Bilbao
This is not the first time Butland has grabbed headlines for the wrong reasons this season, and there is now talk about whether he is qualified to start in the Europa League tie with Bilbao.
Chris Jack has tipped Kelly to be given the nod ahead of the former Manchester United shot-stopper when the La Liga outfit visit Ibrox in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final tie on Thursday, 10 April.
| Matches | Saves | Save Percentage | Goals Conceded | Goals Prevented | Clean Sheets | Errors Led To Goal |
| 26 | 58 | 67.4% | 28 | -1.45 | 10 | 2 |
The journalist admitted that he is not sure if Kelly is better than Butland, but insisted that Rangers are left with no option but to make the change, having had to deal with the latter’s disasters this season.
“I do expect to see Kelly between the sticks on Thursday”, Jack said on The Rangers Review (7 April).
“Whether that’s the better or best option, it’s the only alternative Rangers have right now.
“It sums up a season of so many mistakes, disasters, highs and lows from [Butland], who you thought you could hang your hat on.
“It’s just become something of a liability.”
Kelly to make Europa League debut for Rangers
As Jack said, Kelly may not be better than Butland in terms of quality, but it may be best for Ferguson to pull his first-choice goalkeeper away from the firing line.
Kelly has made six league appearances for Rangers this season, keeping three clean sheets and conceding five goals in the process.
The 29-year-old may now be tasked with standing between the sticks against Athletic Bilbao in what would be his Europa League debut for the Glasgow heavyweights.
While several journalists and pundits expect Kelly to start on Thursday, it remains to be seen if Ferguson will actually make that decision.