Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has revealed Connor Goldson is “constantly in my face” demanding not be rested.
But the Ibrox manager insisted it is his job to look after his players and explained that the centre-back will imminently be hit with the axe as he looks to freshen up the starting XI.
Goldson was on the receiving end of public criticism from Gerrard for his horrendous own goal in Thursday’s 4-3 Europa League defeat to Spartak Moscow and the manager spelled out what the defender should now expect.
Gerrard said, as quoted by the Scottish Sun: “Connor is constantly in my face saying, ‘Don’t give me a rest, don’t give me a rest, don’t give me a rest’. But there will be a time when I have got to help him. He won’t like that but it is my job.
“Connor has played a lot of games but that’s the case for a lot of these players. This is the squad we have put together.
“This is the reason the players have come to play as many games as they can — because they’ve been frustrated at other clubs or haven’t been able to get a breakthrough.
“I’ve mentioned the schedule so many times. It is what it is and we have to cope. You try and get as big a squad as you can when you’re in this situation because you know it’s going to take its toll at some point.”
OPINION
It is remarkable that we are in the second week of November and Goldson has already played 25 matches this season, seven more than in the two previous seasons combined. Moreover, the £3.5million summer signing has started each of those 25 and played the full 90 minutes in each one. The only match he was rested for was a Scottish League Cup encounter. It is to the player’s credit that he is urging his manager not to rest him, which Gerrard has heeded up until now. The 25-year-old knows how much football he has missed over the last few years, and is having the time of his life being a main man at such a prestigious club. But, Goldson looked physically and mentally shattered in Moscow in midweek and his own goal blunder, when he attempted to clear with the outside of his right foot rather than send a cross into row Z with his left, was the action of a player running on empty. For his own good, he needs a breather to recharge his batteries.