Steven Gerrard has got some good news on the injury front as Borna Barisic is back playing on the football pitch, and recently he lined up for the Gers reserve side against Kilmarnock. The summer signing played 45 minutes of football and looked sharp. There is no doubt that he would lift the first team massively when he is a hundred per cent fit.
Left-back is one of the areas where the Gers have struggled of late as Jon Flanagan has been below par in his performances. However, to be fair to the former Liverpool fullback, he is naturally more suited to play as a right back and given that he is right footed, he hasn’t been able to offer much on the offensive front.
Reserve team coach Graeme Murty raved about Barisic’s comeback and said on Rangers’ official website after the 5-0 routing of Kilmarnock, ”Borna needed to get back and he gave us 45 minutes – and you can see the quality the guy has got.
“He has a wonderful left foot and good range, and the other guys came in similarly and got out of the game what they needed which was good for us and it is good for my players to go and see that level of player, that level of approach and that level of professionalism as they all want to be there.”
The Gers will hope that Barisic’ injury is not recurring as he has struggled with muscle injury ever since he joined in the summer. The Croatian international has made just seven appearances thus far this season but his impact has been there for everyone to see as he racked up four assists and has looked solid defensively as well. He could be in line to get into the matchday squad against Aberdeen.
Barisic is a natural left back, and his forward runs would keep the opposition defenders busy which we don’t often currently see with Flanagan playing. The 26-year-old has even made it into Croatia’s national team squad and that in itself says a lot about his talent as the Croats were the World Cup runners-up recently.
The Bears though would be glad that they have coped well without him so far. The summer signing has now missed six weeks of action but Rangers currently find themselves on top of the table in the league and have a golden chance to go through to the knockout stages in the Europa League as well.
With the busy time of the season coming, Barisic’s comeback would be a massive boost for Gerrard and we can see some influential display from the Croatian down the left side of the defence.
