Will Graeme Murty opt for Bruno Alves or the equally unimpressive Russell Martin against Celtic?

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Both Bruno Alves and Russell Martin have failed to impress since arriving at Rangers.

Graeme Murty will face few crucial decisions when it comes to his team selection this weekend against Celtic on Sunday.

There are a number of areas on the pitch where the Rangers manager will face quite the head scratcher, some of them down to having genuine worthy options for a certain position whilst others are less so.

Jason Cummings’ four goal performance against Falkirk will have given Murty some food for thought when it comes to selecting who to lead the line, however, at the opposite end of the park, the manager faces a tough decision as to who to select at centre-half, the under-performing Bruno Alves, or liability that is Russell Martin?

Bruno Alves arrived at Rangers with much promise, however, his time as an Ibrox player has been devastated by injuries. Having recently returned to fitness, the Portuguese veteran was selected to start against Falkirk, and essentially handed the opportunity to stake his claim for a starting spot against Celtic.

Unfortunately for Murty, Alves did not stake his claim and instead produced a highly underwhelming performance that will not have instilled much confidence in his manager or the fans.

Similarly, however, despite Martin’s clear pace which has been a valuable asset to the Rangers defence at times since his arrival in January, the on loan Norwich star has been at fault for a number of sloppy goals already, despite only making a handful of appearances for the club so far.

Most recently, Martin was to blame for St Johnstone’s consolation in the 4-1 victory over the Saints in late February.

Should the Scotland international experience lapses in concentration such as this against Celtic, despite the Hoops not being on the best of the form, they still possess copious amounts of quality all over the pitch, and will punish the likes of Martin with goals of their own.

There is no doubt that Alves’ return has given Murty some food for thought, but his unconvincing performance against Falkirk may resign him to a spot on the bench, given the importance of the weekend’s derby game and the lack of football the veteran has played in the last couple of months.

Nevertheless, whoever is selected will have to step up majorly if they are to keep Celtic at bay and record a historic victory over their city rivals.