Rangers manager Philippe Clement has confirmed that James Tavernier will be unavailable for Thursday’s Glasgow Derby. The right-back has been tormented by Daizen Maeda in the fixture for some time but it appears that the Rangers captain will have a reprieve when the teams meet for the third time this season.
Speaking earlier today, Clement confirmed that Tavernier was injured and would be out for a few weeks, worsening his defensive issues ahead of the game.
🚨 BREAKING: Rangers captain James Tavernier will miss Thursday's Old Firm clash – live on Sky Sports – with defender Leon Balogun also a doubt ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/JpkIpH5wdE
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) December 31, 2024
Leon Balogun is a doubt after picking up a calf strain against St Mirren. This means that Rangers will have a very threadbare team in a game that they cannot afford not to win. Celtic will be relishing the opportunity to play against a makeshift defence as they will know that a win takes a huge step towards winning the title, notwithstanding a 14 point gap already.
That’s him away in the January window then.
The old ‘unavailable’ message which really means don’t want to risk him being injured when we’ve got a buyer.
Shat it from Daizen.
Again.
Injured my ass lol