Rangers must rally in the face of a defensive crisis for Euro clash

SOMETIMES in football you have a duty to knuckle down and make the best of a bad situation. That’s how it’s looking for Rangers ahead of their Europa League opener against Lyon at Ibrox on Thursday night. Steven Gerrard could be facing a crisis in central defence, with Connor Goldson self-isolating and Filip Helander being stretchered off during Saturday’s victory over St Johnstone in Perth. Jack Simpson isn’t registered in the Europa League squad, so that could leave Leon Balogun as the only senior centre-back heading into the match against the French side. Gerrard might have to turn to the likes of Calvin Bassey to slot in as a left-sided centre-back, or perhaps even one of the midfielders. It’s far from ideal, particularly against a Lyon side who found a bit of form last night with a 3-1 home win over Strasbourg. Former Celtic players Moussa Dembele and Jason Denayer were both among the scorers and I’m sure Dembele, in particular, will be relishing the prospect of a return to Ibrox. But, for Rangers, there are times in football when you can find strength and unity in the face of adversity. When I think back to my own career at Celtic, our squad was decimated by injuries when we beat Barcelona in the Champions League in 2012. Our captain Scott Brown missed out through illness. Our main goalscorer Gary Hooper was out injured, while the likes of James Forrest and Emilio Izaguirre also missed out. Georgios Samaras captained us that night, with Miku playing up front. I was having to slot in as a sort of right wing-back at times, a position I’d never played in my life. That was the same for a few of the other boys. They were asked to do things that night which, ordinarily, would have been totally out of their comfort zone. But you knuckle down and put in a shift. You have to rally in the face of a crisis. If they do that, then Rangers might just find their own Tony Watt to pop up and become a hero.