Waghorn set for Linfield warm-up
RANGERS will use Saturday’s friendly against Linfield in Belfast to prime striker Martyn Waghorn for a competitive comeback from injury against Celtic and his first taste of the Old Firm fixture.
Last season’s top scorer missed the penalty shootout victory at Hampden in April and was hurt after scoring the equaliser in the opening day Ladbrokes Premiership draw against Hamilton Accies. The 26-year-old was absent from the victories over Peterhead, Dundee, Motherwell and the draw with Kilmarnock.
The onset of international week will not further delay Waghorn’s return to action as Rangers travel to Northern Ireland to contest a testimonial for long-serving Linfield midfielder Jamie Mulgrew.
That is a timely boost for the attacking provision available to Mark Warburton because Joe Dodoo faces four weeks out with an ankle injury. The close season capture from Leicester City was stretchered off early at Kilmarnock on Friday and, while X-rays are understood to have shown no break, Dodoo is expected to be sidelined for a month.
The Linfield game conveniently plugs a fixture gap before the Celtic clash — removing a key concern for Warburton, who lost the William Hill Scottish Cup final to play-off fit Hibernian three weeks after Rangers rounded off their league season.
Warburton will be without Scotland winger Barrie McKay, Northern Ireland’s Lee Hodson and England Under-19 skipper Jordan Rossiter for the trip to Windsor Park.
However, he can use the friendly to keep the rest of his squad sharp and hand valuable game time to those needing a fitness outing. ‘I hope Belfast is a stepping stone for Waggy,’ said Warburton.
‘We won’t rush him when it’s a hamstring. You have to make sure he’s okay. His health is the most important thing.
‘Hopefully he’ll be back working with us in the early part of the week, that’s the plan. If the physios are happy then he’ll get some minutes.
‘We’ll also look to welcome back Josh Windass, maybe Jason Holt as well. Matt Crooks has been out for five-and-
a-half months so it will be too early for him to get 90 minutes. If we can get him some pitch time, then great and hopefully he has no reaction. We have to take Matt slowly.
‘We’ve got a gap of two weeks so the boys will have four days off, be back to training on Thursday and Friday, travel, game and then back in and we’ll go from there. We have to keep their match fitness and intensity up.
‘So we’re looking forward to going to Belfast and having a good encounter. It’s a balancing act as you don’t want to pick up any injuries. But you could wrap them in cotton wool and they lose intensity and focus. We go into this game looking to maintain levels of fitness.
‘You can do a lot on the training ground but we saw in the Cup final that sometimes these gaps are too long.’
With that worry in mind, Warburton will hope McKay returns fit and well from Malta with a second Scotland cap in his luggage. The wide man, a substitute for eight minutes in the defeat to France in June, scored a stunning goal against Celtic in the semi-final and will be a vital weapon for Warburton to have at his disposal going to Parkhead on September 10.
The Rangers boss said: ‘Gordon (Strachan) has named a big squad of 27 so, even with a full bench, four will miss out. But I hope very much Barrie gets a chance. He deserves his call-up and the more he can impress the manager, the better.
‘Barrie’s level of consistency has been first class for a young player, stepping up as he did last year.
‘He’s 21 and will only get better. His work ethic is good. We’ve seen how good his technical base is. Physically, he will only get stronger.
‘When we first came in, Barrie was good aerobically for around 65 minutes then struggled. Then you saw in the Celtic game when he played 120 minutes and scored the goal that he scored.
‘Barrie knows he’s got to keep working hard. He has all the ability in the world.
‘If he keeps doing what he’s doing, he’ll be in a really good place in three or four years. He takes information on board. He’s fearless on the pitch. There’s no doubting his bravery or ability.’