“He’s a double engine” – Leon Balogun likens Rangers midfielder to Nigeria’s Wilfred Ndidi

Nigeria and Rangers central defender, Leon Aderemi Balogun, has likened his teammate, Connor Barron, to Leicester City midfielder, Soccernet.ng reports.

The 36-year-old centre-back had played four games on the bounce before he was relegated to the bench in Rangers' UEFA Europa League group phase clash against Olympiacos. He was reinstated into the starting lineup in their win against the Hearts yesterday.

Cyriel Dessers' early goal made all the difference at Ibrox, but Balogun aired his opinion post-match, highlighting the win was far from convincing.

“First half was really good, but we dropped quite a lot in the second half and I think you could feel it in the Stadium as well. We've shown some kind of talent to make life harder for ourselves than it has to be.

“Overall, we have to be a lot better, but on a positive note, we defended really well and had a clean sheets which is always good for a defender,” the former Mainz 05 man said in the post-game interview.

Additionally, he likened Scottish midfielder, Connor Barron, to his national teammate, Wilfred Ndidi. Balogun lauded the Scottish youngster for pulling the strings in the centre of the park despite just recovering from an injury.

“Connor Barron as well. He's struggled with injuries but now he's back. I made a comment about him the other day, called him the double engine, which I used to call Ndidi at the national team because he just runs and keeps running. I think they all try their best, but it's something you have to deal with,” the ex-Brighton and Hove Albion man concluded.

Rangers are currently nine points behind Celtic and Aberdeen, who are currently joint-top of the SPFL.