Helander Covid case hurts Rangers’ Europa hopes
RANGERS defender Filip Helander will miss his side’s forthcoming clashes with Standard Liege and Ross County after testing positive for coronavirus. The Ibrox club also have an unnamed academy player self-isolating following what officials now believe was a false positive test after two subsequent results came back negative. But Helander’s diagnosis leaves Rangers short in central defence with Nikola Katic still injured and George Edmundson suspended for breaching Covid regulations. Manager Steven Gerrard used Calvin Bassey at left centre-half in yesterday’s Betfred Cup clash against Falkirk, with the 20-year-old scoring in a 4-0 win to clinch a last-eight tie at St Mirren. The Rangers boss said: ‘I haven’t seen Filip with my own eyes since his positive test, but I will speak to him (by phone) on the bus on the way home. ‘I’ll speak to him in the morning too, to get a feeling of how he is. But he will be missing for ten days and it’s a blow for us. ‘With George also missing, it leaves us a bit light in the central areas. That’s what Covid can do, so you’ve got to try and guard against it. Hopefully we can get through with the bodies we’ve got. ‘We’ve lost Nathan Patterson (after a coronavirus outbreak in the Scotland Under-21s squad) and we’ve lost two more today.’ Gerrard may lack options at centre half but knows he can rely on Connor Goldson. The 27-year-old has played every minute of every match this season and his boss
believes he is relishing being an ever-present three years after undergoing heart surgery. Gerrard said: ‘It’s fantastic. He wants to play every minute of every game and, given the size of Connor, I’m not sure I’m going to fall out with him! ‘He feels he’s making up for lost time because of what’s happened to him in the past. ‘He recovers quicker than most and he’s ready. He’s in a fantastic place. ‘I would love to have taken Connor off the pitch but, while he’s looking at me in disgust as I think about doing so, I’ll let him keep playing. ‘It was a strong performance by us against Falkirk. When you’re last up and on the television, everyone is hoping for an upset but we were too good over the 90 minutes.’ Gerrard, who made seven changes to his starting line-up, hailed Leon King, 16, and Ciaran Dickson, 18, after the teenage duo came off the bench to make their Rangers debuts at Falkirk. ‘Young Dickson was terrific, playing with energy, personality and character,’ he said. ‘He’s probably had a similar upbringing to myself in that he knows what it means to represent Rangers and the shirt. ‘Young Leon maybe got his chance because a couple dropped out but he has trained very well too. ‘I’ll be watching to see if this goes to their heads or if they want to really see it as a start of their careers.’