James Tavernier ruled out for Celtic’s trip to Ibrox to face Rangers | OneFootball

Rangers manager Philippe Clement has confirmed that James Tavernier will be unavailable for Thursday’s Glasgow Derby. The right-back has been tormented by Daizen Maeda in the fixture for some time but it appears that the Rangers captain will have a reprieve when the teams meet for the third time this season.

Speaking earlier today, Clement confirmed that Tavernier was injured and would be out for a few weeks, worsening his defensive issues ahead of the game.

Leon Balogun is a doubt after picking up a calf strain against St Mirren. This means that Rangers will have a very threadbare team in a game that they cannot afford not to win. Celtic will be relishing the opportunity to play against a makeshift defence as they will know that a win takes a huge step towards winning the title, notwithstanding a 14 point gap already.