Former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson believes Ianis Hagi’s influence will be missed when the Light Blues take on St Johnstone tomorrow.
The Romanian picked up the virus whilst on international duty. Although he won’t have to quarantine for 20 days, as some had feared, he will still be absent for the trip to McDiarmid Park.
Ferguson claims that, while the Gers can cope ok without Hagi, the 22-year-old does provide a great deal of creativity that can be hard to replace:
“That’s a blow as he has huge ability but I look at this Rangers squad now and I think they are strong enough to cope when they have injury or Covid situations. You’ve got Ryan Kent and Scott Wright, there’s Joe Aribo and Kemar Roofe who can play in Hagi’s slot and there’s also Juninho Bacuna to come into it as well.”
“That’s required with the way this Covid thing is going. Hagi is a wizard who can turn a game with a bit of magic but Rangers have enough tricks up their sleeves to reassure me they can cope without him.”
Manager Steven Gerrard confirmed Hagi’s absence in his pre-match press conference today but he also provided fitness updates on two other players.
Ryan Jack has not played since last season due to a recurring knee problem but Gerrard has said that, while Jack won’t face St Johnstone, he is close to making his comeback.
Nnamdi Ofoborh, who has not featured since arriving at Ibrox due to a heart scare, is also likely to return to training soon, with Gerrard estimating he could be ready to feature by the end of next week.
