Van Bronckhorst’s dilemma- does he only raise the white flag for Celtic match or for three others as well?

Giovanni van Bronckhorst faces some huge decisions in January as he weighs up the impact of the African Nations Cup on his squad.

Joe Aribo, Leon Balogun and Calvin Bassey are likely to be in the Nigeria squad although Balogun hasn’t played since the League Cup semi-final defeat from Hibs on November 20.

Having three players on international duty entitles a club to request a postponement but the SPFL aren’t obliged to accept.

Facing Celtic on February 2 with anything less than a full squad wouldn’t go down well with the howling majority of Ibrox fans but requesting that match in isolation is postponed would send out a message of fear.

The rescheduled fixtures sends the Ibrox side to Aberdeen on January 18 which will be while the group stage matches are being played at the African Nations Cup.

Van Bronckhorst could request the cancellation of that match plus the others against Livingston and Ross County before the Celtic match but that could give the hoops the chance to cut into and even overtake the Ibrox side at the top of the table.

At this stage it looks like four fixtures get postponed or no fixtures unless the white flag is to be used for a match against Celtic.

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