Michael Beale faces an uncertain few days in terms of the early preparation for Hibs next week regarding the availability of Borna Barisic.
Ahead of the resumption of competitive domestic action, Rangers will host Bayer Leverkusen this coming Saturday and that will be one fixture that will have to be negotiated without the services of the Croatian player who is still on duty with his national side at the World Cup in Qatar.
Barisic made his first appearance of the tournament in yesterday’s penalty shoot-out victory over Japan following a 1-1 draw in normal time meaning that Zlatko Dalic’s side will now meet the might of Brazil at the quarter-final stage on Friday, less than 24 hours before his club teammates next take to the pitch.
Missing a friendly game is no big deal but what new boss Beale will need to consider is that Ridvan Yilmaz is also expected to be unavailable for the forseeable, still recovering from the hamstring issue picked up against Aberdeen at the end of October. That would provide a bit of a dilemma in terms of who to opt for on the left-hand side of the defence for the important clash on 15th December but much will depend on Barisic’s condition upon his return.
If the Croats are eliminated on Friday, he would likely be back in Glasgow by next Monday or Tuesday at the very latest to provide a decent chance of making the team for the visit of Hibs.
Perhaps of more immediate concern will be BB’s current fitness situation. In the evenly contested tussle with Japan, he appeared to be struggling in extra-time with a hamstring niggle of his own but it did not stop him from completing the 120 minutes on the pitch.
Ben Davies or even Leon King could be considered as emergency cover but hopefully that is not a situation that will need to come to pass.