Philippe Clement has confirmed Connor Goldson will be a last-minute decision tomorrow morning after the defender trained but that doubts remain about his fitness.
Speaking at his pre-Celtic presser, Rangers’ boss wouldn’t be drawn on a definitive decision over the vice-captain, only saying his involvement would be decided tomorrow and nothing is certain.
This, to us, suggests Goldson will indeed miss this one, but we might be completely wrong; usually if a player is going to feature, the manager would confirm he trained and is available for selection.
But this hints that Goldson’s fitness isn’t there yet, and he isn’t ready to start a match, which means John Souttar and Leon Balogun are likely to be the starters at the back.
Of course, we admit we’re slightly guessing, and Ibrox Noise have been known to be wrong now and then, but the language is consistent with Goldson being a miss.
All the manager can say is a decision will be taken tomorrow, and that’s never the most reassuring sign for a player’s prospects of playing.
The fact also that there’s this level of doubt hints that starting him, no matter what, would be a major risk and even if he ‘feels’ fit and ready, the club doctors would likely advise that it carries significant cost.
Which means that despite the gravity of this match and the fact it’s at Parkhead, Rangers are very unlikely to start Goldson.
And in starting him would be taking a major risk, which in fairness most fans believe Clement did with Kemar Roofe v St Johnstone.
So it wouldn’t be the first time Clement had surprised with a strange starting selection based on fitness and it gone a bit wrong.
We’ll know tomorrow morning what the risk and reward is here.