Steven Gerrard believes it's over to James Tavernier to prove his fitness has improved enough to warrant a place in his team to play Celtic.
The Rangers right-back has been out of action since mid-February, when he suffered an knee injury in the club's first leg Europa League clash with Royal Antwerp.
He's back on the grass now and is angling for a return next weekend when John Kennedy's side make the journey to Ibrox in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.
But Gerrard isn't keen for his captain to aggravate the problem by reintroducing him to the action too early, as he awaits news on the kick-off time now that it clashes with Prince Philip's funeral on Saturday afternoon.
The Light Blues boss - after watching his team make it a perfect 17 Premiership home wins this season with a 2-1 victory over Hibernian - said: "James has again had a good couple of days since we last spoke and he's pushing hard to be involved at the weekend.
"We'll only do that if he is ready, we won't force that. He's been out too long for us to force that.
"He'll have to show this week that there's more progression and get him out amongst the team at some point if he's to earn a place in the squad."
Gerrard suffered a further injury blow this week when Leon Balogun picked up an ankle knock, while he admits he is still waiting for an update from Ryan Jack's trip to see a top London specialist about his calf complaint.
