OPINION
The last thing any team wants is for their star attacker to be ruled out in the immediate build up to what could be one of the biggest games of their season, but that is exactly what has happened days before Rangers’ crunch clash with Osijek.
The Light Blues head over to Croatia later this week for the first leg of their Europa League qualifying tie, but will come up against a Croatian side missing star striker Gabrijel Boban after it was confirmed by his manager Zoran Zekic he had suffered ligament damage.
As quoted by the Daily Record, the Osijek boss said: “Luck has deserted us. Gabrijel injured himself last week against Petrocub and we have been assessing the damage.
“Although it’s not a tear, he has ligament damage. It will be a few weeks before he is back sadly. With Eros Grezda a long-term injury it leaves us very light up front.”
Rangers will know all about just how debilitating a serious injury blow can be to the team, having been on the receiving end in the past but they cannot allow themselves to become distracted by news from the opposition.
It would be quite easy for the Gers squad to think they already have one foot in the door of the next qualifying round simply because Osijek are missing not one but two of their forwards, but it was that sort of arrogant attitude which resulted in last summer’s embarrassment against Progres Niederkorn.
Yes, Rangers do not have to face up against the man who won last season’s player of the year at the Croatian side, but it only means they are coming up against a relative unknown.
Complacency is hard to notice and even harder to stop – so Steven Gerrard has to make sure he has everyone focused on the task at hand, rather than who will be missing.