Glasgow Rangers take on Napoli this evening in the Champions League and the tie represents a chance for the Ibrox side to atone for two recent 4-0 thrashings.
These defeats didn’t just mark the club losing ground in both the Premiership title race and making a dent in their continental ambitions, it also threatens to rip the confidence from the team.
Regular goalkeeper this season Jon McLaughlin has been ruled out of the Napoli match with injury, although this might be seen as a positive with the 35-year-old shipping eight goals in two matches, with Allan McGregor to replace him.
Van Bronckhorst did reveal more injury news ahead of the tie tonight, with one of the club’s best players available for the tie…
James Tavernier is fit for Napoli
The captain went off injured at halftime against Ajax in the first Champions League group stage match last Wednesday and there were fears he might be out for a few matches.
The Dutchman spoke in his pre-match press conference yesterday regarding Tavernier however, and its good news, saying:
“Tavernier is doing better than the last few weeks, the weekend allowed him more time to recover,” said van Bronckhorst.
“Physically, he should be in a much better place than in the match against Ajax.”
This is a major boost for Rangers, with Tavernier being the first name on the team sheet and it looks like the unexpected week's recovery period has worked wonders for him.
The Englishman is currently the best performing player this season for the club, with a WhoScored rating of 7.78, way clear of Tom Lawrence in second place with a rating of 7.33.
He has chipped in with two goals and two assists, and as the designated penalty taker (scored 44 out of 53 spot kicks), he is likely to net if Rangers are awarded a penalty.
With Tavernier receiving criticism for the defensive side to his game in the past, in the Premiership this season he has made 2.3 tackles, 1.5 interceptions, and only been dribbled past 0.8 times per match, proving he can marshal the Gers defence to a high standard.
The visit of the Serie A leaders will be extremely tough, but with Tavernier back in the side and desperate to make up for the previous two results, it’s a major boost for the team and the manager, who is surely ecstatic by the news of his availability.