Rangers defender picked up a knock on international duty, says national team doctor

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Glasgow Rangers are facing a potential worry over the fitness of Borna Barisic ahead of their upcoming Scottish Premiership fixture at Ibrox.

The Rangers defender was in the Croatia team for their Nations League opener as they were beaten 4-1 by Portugal in Porto.

However, the 27-year-old missed the follow-up fixture against France in Paris, which the visitors lost 4-2.

Croatian FA team doctor Zoran Bahtijarevic has now explained why head coach Zlatko Dalic opted to leave the Rangers full-back on the bench for 90 minutes.

“Borna Barisic got a knock on his knee against Portugal,” he said, as quoted by Herald Scotland.

“I couldn’t say with certainty that he would have been fully ready for the match in France.”

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Barisic struggled in his first season at Rangers and was even touted by some quarters to be moved on last summer, but he has now made that left-hand side in Gerrard’s team his own.

He clocked up 39 appearances for the Ibrox side last term, scoring two goals and, crucially, contributing a huge 14 assists, including eight in the Scottish Premiership.

Barisic has hit the ground running this season, with three assists and a goal from Rangers’ six league matches, while his defensive efforts have contributed to a perfect clean sheet record so far.

Therefore, it’s worrying news to hear that he could be nursing a knock and facing a fitness battle ahead of the Dundee United clash – hopefully it won’t be anything major.