OPINION
Rangers defender Nikola Katic will likely be gifted a rare chance to impress as he seems the ideal candidate to replace Connor Goldson in the starting line-up for Celtic on Saturday.
Gers boss Steven Gerrard shared his current injuries worries for the upcoming clash with the Hoops and revealed that Goldson was a big doubt for the clash after limping off in the 1-1 draw with Hibernian.
“Connor is sore. He’s a big doubt. There’s a lot of ice flying about the dressing room,” the Rangers boss said, as quoted by the Scottish Sun.
“There are five or six but I haven’t really had time to analyse them all individually.”
If Goldson is unavailable for the very important clash with Celtic then after making a cameo appearance against Hibs to replace his injured teammate, Katic is more than likely to get the nod.
It will be a rare chance for the 6ft 4in tall centre-back (Source: Transfermarkt) as ahead of playing some minutes against Hibernian, he hadn’t featured in any of the club’s last seven league games.
While Katic wasn’t fantastic in his eight league appearances of the season, it’s still a mystery how he has fallen so far out of favour at Ibrox.
Reliable Ranger source Four Lads Had a Dream even suggested earlier in December that the player was perhaps unhappy and missing home, and if his falling out favour is for any reason like that, then it doesn’t paint the brightest of futures at Ibrox.
Given that Gerrard steered away from saying how long, if any Goldson’s time on the sidelines due to injury was set to be, it’s clearly crunch time for Katic to prove he has an important part to play at the Gers.
There are few games as important as a clash with Celtic, if any, and therefore it’s the perfect stage for Katic to really stake his claim and make everyone feel a little bit happier about his future at the club.
This all means that while the 22-year-old joined in the summer, Saturday’s clash with Celtic already feels like being a pivotal moment for him if Goldson is set to miss out leading to Gerrard gifting the Croatian a rare chance to impress.