Steven Gerrard will block any attempt by Nottingham Forest manager Aitor Karanka to recall centre-back Joe Worrall, according to the Daily Mirror.
On their live transfer blog (10.36am) James Nursey claims that Karanka has admitted he is looking into the season-long loan deal after Michael Dawson suffered an injury.
However, Nursey claims that there is no release clause in the contract said to be worth £500,000 over the season.
Worrall has been playing regularly under Gerrard, although the four centre-backs, including Worrall, Nikola Katic, Connor Goldson and Gareth McAuley have been rotated fairly heavily.
He’s made 12 appearances across all competitions since his move from the Championship club.
OPINION
Worrall hasn’t been the perfect centre-back since his move from Forest in the summer. However, Gerrard won’t want to lose him and if there’s no recall clause (and they are fairly unusual in season-long loans) Forest won’t get him. Gareth McAuley has made a big impact since his return from injury but he won’t be able to play every Rangers game. That means that rotation is likely through the rest of the season and Gerrard must work out which combination of defenders is best suited to each individual game. Rangers play Aberdeen tonight in a really important Premiership game and we’re expecting Worrall to make the starting XI after McAuley played 90 minutes in the win against Hearts on Sunday. Three points will keep them on top of the Premiership no-matter what Celtic do, although their rivals do have a game in hand after beating Aberdeen in the Scottish League Cup final on Sunday.