Borna Barisic: Rangers will 'help and support' defender after Celtic horror show

It’s clear that the scars left by his wretched experience at Celtic Park last week could take some time to heal for Borna Barisic.

Substituted at half-time after being run ragged as Celtic stormed into their winning 3-0 lead in the Old Firm clash, the Croatian international left-back was unsurprisingly dropped for Rangers’ next game against Hearts on Sunday.

Barisic remained on the bench for Wednesday’s meeting with Hibs at Ibrox but was called into action after just 15 minutes as a replacement for Leon Balogun when the defender limped off following a painful clash with Paul McGinn.

It proved to be a nervy reintroduction for Barisic. The 29-year-old appeared anxious in possession with some of his decision-making prompting groans among the home support.

Barisic gradually steadied himself and helped Rangers secure the 2-0 win which keeps them breathing down Celtic’s neck at the top of the table.

But manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst recognises the difficulties Barisic is going through and has vowed to give him all the assistance he needs to recover the form which made him one of the Ibrox club’s most accomplished and effective performers since his £1.5 million move from Osijek four years ago.

“For Borna, it was a difficult game,” said van Bronckhorst. “Those are moments that will happen in your career.

“The only thing we need to do is make sure we give him confidence, we help him. It is not easy. You see when he came on against Hibs, he had to come on at a split-second, which is always hard without a warm-up.

“As the game progressed, he started to get in the game better. He is one of our players and we support him - not only me, but the other players. We support him to get the performances which he needs.”

One Rangers