Borna Barisic is in line to start Sunday’s Betfred Cup Final – handing Rangers a major injury boost ahead of the Old Firm showdown.
Light Blues boss Steven Gerrard admitted the Croat faced a race against time to be fit for the derby after sitting out Wednesday’s 2-2 draw against Aberdeen at Pittodrie with a foot injury.
The in-form international full-back was a big miss with Jon Flanagan deputising for what was the former Liverpool full-back’s first appearance since the league loss to Celtic three months ago.
Flanagan or Andy Halliday are back-up options for the left back role but Record Sport can reveal that Barisic is winning his fitness battle after receiving further treatment yesterday.
The 27-year-old revealed he picked up his foot injury against Livingston last month and sustained further knocks on the same injury while playing for Croatia against Slovakia and against Hamilton.
Barisic has been taking painkilling injections but Rangers medical staff felt he needed a rest for the trip to Aberdeen as they look to manage the problem.
They are confident he will take his place in Rangers’ line-up at Hampden and can soldier on until the winter break when he can get the rest required.
A Rangers source said: “Borna is likely to play. First of all, he is a very brave guy and he will do everything he can to play and it is the belief of everyone at Rangers that he will play.
“He has been getting three or four injections in the last three games and you can’t do that every three days or you will make it worse.
“The injury needed rest so it was better for all concerned that he sat out the game against Aberdeen but he received some treatment on Thursday and is feeling much better and likely to play against Celtic.
“The management won’t make a final decision until Friday or Saturday but it is almost certain that Borna will play in the game.
“In the long term he must continue to manage the injury and get to the break in January and have a complete rest so he can fully recover.”
Speaking after the recent 2-2 draw against Feyenoord in Rotterdam, Barisic said: “It’s not a big injury - just that you need a couple of days rest but the problem is we don’t have that time with so many games coming.”
