Glasgow Rangers striker Kyle Lafferty is out injured.
Glasgow Rangers forward Kyle Lafferty remains sidelined this evening for Steven Gerrard’s side’s Europa League clash.
Lafferty is injured as he has been for the past month, with Gerrard telling SkySports: “Kyle has still got an issue in his quad muscle, so unfortunately he hasn’t made it here.”
Lafferty’s ongoing injury problem puts a new slant on the row which saw the Rangers star slated during the past international break.
The Rangers ace pulled out of Northern Ireland’s international fixture and was roundly criticised for doing so.
Pundit and ex-Celtic striker Ian Wright even blasted his ‘disgraceful behaviour’, the Daily Record reported.
It now seems clear that Lafferty’s fitness problems were genuine and the pundits and media had made an assumption without knowing the facts.
The insinuation was clear, suggesting that Lafferty could not be bothered to play for his country and would be back playing for Rangers within days.
Northern Ireland made sure this was not possible, by invoking a UEFA rule to make him ineligible from Rangers’ match with Hamilton.
Lafferty has played only 19 minutes of football since, clearly not fully fit and able to contribute and was not even in the squad at the weekend to face St Mirren.
The criticism Lafferty received may have been made in good faith, but it was over the top.
Lafferty’s ongoing problem shows he was not 100 per cent and playing for his country would have been the wrong move.
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