Barry Ferguson surprised by Glen Kamara’s inclusion in Rangers lineup

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Glasgow Rangers were beaten in the first Old Firm game of the season at Ibrox at the weekend.

Barry Ferguson has told the Daily Record that he was surprised to see Glen Kamara named in Rangers’ starting lineup for Sunday’s Old Firm game as he felt that Steven Gerrard had got the midfield balance right against Legia Warsaw.

The Light Blues are coming to terms with the 2-0 defeat at the hands of their bitter rivals, and now have two weeks to dissect what went wrong for the Gers on a day where they barely managed to lay a glove on Celtic.

The loss comes just days after Alfredo Morelos’ stoppage-time winner booked their ticket to the group-stages of the Europa League as they edged out Legia 1-0 on aggregate. And Ferguson suggested that one change in the middle of the park from the midweek game caught him off-guard.

“When I saw the line-up I was surprised to see Glen Kamara included as I liked the look of the side which started on Thursday night against 
Legia Warsaw,” he told the Daily Record.

“The three who have been playing most games in the middle of the park, Joe Aribo, Ryan Jack and Steven Davis, have been excellent so it was an eyebrow-raiser to have another holding midfielder in there. The formation change saw Aribo out wide on the left and to be honest he looked a bit lost.”

It is difficult to single any one player out for particular criticism as the truth is that Rangers struggled all over the park against Neil Lennon’s side. But their inability to win the battle in the middle looked particularly costly as it left Jermain Defoe looking isolated while he was on the pitch.

Kamara was nowhere near as influential as he had been during the previous meeting at Ibrox when he gave Scott Brown a torrid afternoon and played a key role in Scott Arfield’s goal, so it was no surprise to see the former Dundee man subbed off at the break.

But he was not the only player to struggle to make an impact. And Gerrard will be hoping that all of the players within his squad return to action after the international break desperate to step up and make up for their first significant setback of the season.