Rangers news: Calvin Bassey tipped to be axed amid ‘massive’ claim – Hutton
Alan Hutton has claimed Giovanni van Bronckhorst could “tinker” with the Rangers rearguard against St Johnstone.
The former Gers defender, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, suggested changes could be necessary with European engagements “taking a massive amount out of the players”.
Rangers face St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park tonight (2 March), after squandering the chance to close the gap to Celtic with a 2-2 draw against Motherwell on Sunday (27 February).
Speaking in his pre-match press conference and quoted by football.scotland (1 March), Aaron Ramsey, Ryan Jack, Filip Helander, Steven Davis, and Amad Diallo are all ruled out of the trip to Perth.
Hutton claimed the Rangers eleven could need “freshening up” after playing eight games in February.
He suggested Borna Barisic and Leon Balogun could come into the side tonight, with Calvin Bassey, 22, among those missing out.
“Calvin Bassey has come in really well, both on the left and in the centre,” he told Football Insider‘s Ewan Kingsbury.
“But Van Bronckhorst has tended to tinker quite a bit with that backline, especially on the left-hand side. I can see a couple of changes based on that, perhaps Barisic and Balogun to come in.
“But in terms of the performance against Motherwell, it was really night and day. It really depends on who the manager thinks needs to freshen up and have a rest. They have played a lot of football recently.
“The Dortmund games will have taken a massive amount out of the players, so I’m expecting one or two changes.”
Rangers trail Old Firm rivals Celtic by three points atop the Scottish Premiership.
Van Bronckhorst’s side continue their Europa League adventure next Thursday (10 March).
In other news, pundit stunned by Celtic and Rangers announcement – “the fans must be fuming”.