Rangers boss Gerrard hails Aribo, reveals reason for taking Balogun off vs Ross County

Speaking at the post-match press conference after Glasgow Rangers' 4-2 win over Ross County, manager Steven Gerrard praised Joe Aribo for his performance and revealed the reason behind his decision to take off Leon Balogun with twenty minutes remaining.

Rangers opened up a four-point gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership table heading into the third international break of the season thanks to goals from Aribo, Ryan Kent, Juninho Bacuna and an own goal after Joseph Hungbo's early opener.

Apart from his crucial equaliser. the Super Eagles midfielder provided the assist for Rangers' third goal when he teed up Bacuna in the 49th minute.

Although Balogun was walking a disciplinary tightrope having picked up a booking for a mistimed tackle in the 41st minute, Gerrard has insisted that he made the move to substitute the central defender with an eye on the League Cup semifinal clash against Hibernian on November 21.

In quotes relayed by The Scotsman, Gerrard said : "Bacuna has come in today and put in a real top performance, Joe Aribo was at it, Ryan Kent scored a worldie goal, I thought Fashion Sakala’s performance was really selfless, a lot of hard work and running in behind".

The former Liverpool captain added : "Their first goal was offside – very marginal, but in my position I am always going to point a finger at that. The second one is sloppy but I have taken Leon Balogun off (by that stage) to protect him because we need him for the League Cup semi final against Hibs and with Fil Helander being out injured, he is so important."

Balogun and Aribo are expected to report for international duty at the Super Eagles camp in Morocco as from Monday ahead of a 2022 World Cup qualifier against Liberia.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel