Despite expected changes to the Rangers team for the Scottish Cup Final against Hearts, Giovanni van Bronckhorst insisted that the vast majority of his players who came so close in Seville are available.
Mind games, diplomacy or just keeping his squad in the right frame? Regardless of the motive for his words, it appears almost certain that a few changes will be made to the starting lineup for today.
Quite simply, the physical and mental exertions from midweek in Spain will have taken its toll on the players with some rotation required. Gio then turned to technology at hand in explaining the benefits of sports science and why most of his players should be ready to go again.
Whether that happens remains to be seen. The manager told the press conference yesterday:
“Borna is not available for tomorrow. All other players who featured are available for tomorrow. We had a tough game with 120 minutes in difficult heat. We had a good recovery today.”
“We use a lot of data and software with our medical department to measure and help players. I think it is a direction every club is going in, particularly with the number of games we have, some of my players played the most games in Europe.”
Faith
Gio did add that there will be consistency today in terms of his selection with Jon McLaughlin continuing between the posts, meaning that Seville is very likely to have been Allan McGregor’s last outing for the club at the grand age of 40.
The Dutchman added on his goalkeeper for today’s game:
“I’ve started McLaughlin in the cup campaign this year – Jon has my full confidence. Allan is our number one and will fully support Jon tomorrow.”
McLaughlin’s own performances have been more than adequate so the Scotland international will be aiming to use today as a springboard to claim the first choice spot for himself for next season.