Glasgow Rangers of Scotland midfielder, Joe Aribo has received a strong hint that he will be in The Gers’ starting line-up for this weekend’s Scottish Premiership derby against their city mates and eternal rivals, Celtic, megasportsarena.com reports.
Aribo’s expectations for a starting role with The Gers come from the words of their Glasgow-based club’s coach, Steven Gerrard, who reeled out the names of lads he is looking forward to fielding in the absence of a couple of others, even as he prepares to pick his team for Saturday’s Old Firm derby.
It means Aribio will get the chance to help his side consolidate on their last outing, as Rangers avenged their only defeat of the season with a 2-0 win in Paisley, just a fortnight after being dumped out of the Betfred Cup at the same venue by Jim Goodwin’s team.
However, while looking forward to another positive result on Saturday, Gerrard warned one of his players, Ryan Kent, who has been cited as an Old Firm specialist, that sentiments will not play any part in him arriving at his selections for the mach.
This means the former Liverpool attacker will have to keep his fingers crossed heading into the fixture, knowing fully that, although he started the season well, his productivity has slipped in recent weeks and he found himself on the bench for Wednesday’s 2-0 win at St. Mirren.
Kent, though, has twice netted at Celtic Park and saved his best displays for the previous showdown with the Parkhead side, as he tormented Mikael Lustig before laying on Ryan Jack’s winner in the corresponding fixture to this weekend’s clash back in 2018.
Similarly, Ianis Hagi took his slot on the left and added an assist for Kemar Roofe’s opener to the two goals he has scored recently against St. Johnstone and Hibernian, while Alfredo Morelos was also back in Gerrard’s starting 11 to score his first league goal since September.
With Aribo also back playing in top gear, after several days out with injury at the start of the season, Gerrard has a surfeit of talent to pick from and the Liverpool legend admitted he has a selection dilemma to tackle, as he looks to name a side capable of stretching his team’s 16-point lead over Neil Lennon’s Celtic.
The Gers’ coach, though, has a slightly easier task of picking his midfield trio, after injuries ruled Ryan Jack and Scott Arfield out of this weekend’s Ibrox cliffhanger, meaning Aribo, Steven Davis and Glen Kamara are likely to be on from the start in the hunt for victory, with Bongani Zungu as an option off the bench.
Gerrard retorted: “Ryan Jack being out for the amount of time has been a real disappointment for me. Scott Arfield’s absence is a bit of bad luck from a challenge he had against Hibs.
“So, it does make us slightly light in that area, but having Bongani there is a big help. Joe Aribo getting back up to speed and back to form as quick as he has is a real positive.
“I thought both him and Glen Kamara were superb against St Mirren. Steven Davis, aside from one or two moments early on, again showed why he is so important to us as well.”
