Jonny McFarlane, Andy Newport and Scott McDermott discussed all of the latest Rangers news on the most recent edition of the Record Rangers podcast, where the journalists spent some time talking about Gers midfielder Joe Aribo.
After being sidelined by an ankle injury earlier this season, Aribo recently returned to the pitch for the Glasgow-based club, with the Nigeria international playing a part in each of the Gers’ last three games in all competitions prior to their UEFA Europa League clash with Lech Poznan on Thursday.
After the midfielder netted his second goal of the 2020/21 campaign last weekend versus Livingston, McDermott shared some excitement over Aribo’s return from injury during the latest edition of the Record Rangers podcast and declared that having the £900k-rated man back in action is going to be “a major boost” for Steven Gerrard’s side.
He said: “Every game now when he’s got all those midfielders fit – it must be a good headache to have, but he must sit days before games thinking, ‘what three am I going to pick in there today?’
“Andy touched on Aribo coming back, that’s obviously a major boost for them, he looks fit and sharp again, gets his goal at the weekend – the options they’ve got are incredible.”
Is Aribo's return a major boost for Rangers?
YES
NO
TIF Thoughts on what McDermott had to say about Aribo…
It’s clear from what he had to say that McDermott believes Aribo’s return has boosted Rangers’ squad depth to a very good level, while it also seems as though the journalist has been impressed by the midfielder’s performances for Gerrard’s side since his return from injury.
It may be fair to say that Aribo’s injury did sideline him for a significant portion of the campaign thus far, forcing him to miss the majority of Rangers’ Premiership matches this season and the entirety of their Europa League qualification campaign.
However, the Gers sit atop the league table and they managed to get into the Europa League group stage without the 24-year-old, so this may indicate that they are still capable of performing to a high level without Aribo, which might provide an indication of the quality of their squad depth.
Although, given that the midfielder has earned the sixth-highest overall WhoScored rating of any Gers player in the league this term, it might also be fair to say that Aribo has provided plenty of quality for his side when he has been available, and so we feel it’s understandable why McDermott thinks his return from injury will prove to be “a major boost” for the Glasgow club.