Rangers senior player withdrawn from international squad
Rangers defender Russell Martin could be looking at an extended spell on the sidelines after being withdrawn from the Scotland squad to face Costa Rica and Hungary.
The Gers defender had missed the Old Firm clash with Celtic but returned to the starting XI for Saturday’s Scottish Premiership defeat by Kilmarnock.
The 32-year-old senior player has won 29 caps for Scotland but hadn’t been involved in the national squad since 2016.
The Scottish FA confirmed the on-loan Norwich defender – and Celtic’s Kieran Tierney – had withdrawn from the squad on their official Twitter account and confirmed Tierney’s Parkhead team-mate Jack Hendry had been added to Alex McLeish’s squad.
With the Gers not in action again until March 31st, Martin’s withdrawal from the squad will be a concern for supporters who don’t want to see Bruno Alves and Fabio Cardoso paired together in defence again.
Martin has been a regular in the starting XI for the Gers since his move from Championship side Norwich on a season-long loan deal in January.
Football Insider verdict:
With David Bates already sidelined, the news Martin has withdrawn from the Scotland squad will be a worry to Gers fans. Hopefully it is only a precautionary move after a back injury had kept him out of the Old Firm clash as losing Bates and Martin in the space of a week would be a terrible blow for the Ibrox giants. Martin has been a decent signing by the Gers and has quickly settled in at Ibrox although seems to have problems avoiding niggly injuries after missing a few games already now. Still, he’s been a much better option than Alves or Cardoso recently.
In other Rangers news, fans have demanded that the club signs this Old Firm scourge in the summer, claiming he is better than Celtic’s Olivier Ntcham.
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