RANGERS defender Borna Barisic believes his outstanding form under Steven Gerrard has helped nail down a Croatia spot with the World Cup runners-up.

The left-back has enjoyed an excellent season and has turned around his performances from last term, when his Rangers future was up for debate. He just had his 27th birthday and can make it a double celebration by securing Croatia's Euro 2020 spot by beating Slovakia today.

And he reckons his form at Rangers have helped him become an automatic pick now for Zlatko Dalić's squad.

Barisic said: "It would be a great birthday present for me if we qualified for the Euros. I actually arrived here with a small injury - a bruised foot, but it's improved and I am okay to play.

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"I never take my place for granted. I am ready and available to play and the final decision is up to the manager.

"I don't like to talk about myself, but all I can say is that I think I am having a really great season at Rangers. I have played all the matches and they have been every three or four days continuously for months and I feel great.

"In terms of my personal performances, I have provided a lot of assists and I've scored too.
"There's no doubt playing with Rangers at this level of consistency has helped me greatly with Croatia too."

And Barisic is looking forward to taking the shackles off against the Slovakians now that he doesn't have to face Gareth Bale again.

He said: "When we played Wales I couldn't get forward as much as I wanted because I was up against Gareth Bale and he only needs one chance to score, so I had to check my runs.

"But I certainly think I will get forward a lot more against Slovakia. And we are expecting another positive result."