Alfredo Morelos is back at Rangers for the clash with Hearts
Alfredo Morelos has returned to Rangers from international duty with Colombia ahead of the vital game against Hearts on Sunday.
The in-form striker missed the last three Gers league games after being called up to his national squad.
The period saw the club drop four points and surrender top spot in the league after a dismal display in the Old Firm derby.
The club shared a succinct message on its official Twitter account, saying: “El Bufalo is back” along with a photo of the Colombian celebrating with fans.
The star forward’s return to his national set up saw him travel over 15,000 miles without seeing a single minute of game action.
Manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst was evidently unimpressed, and reacted to the situation after Morelos was left out against Peru by saying, via the Daily Record: “Obviously you don’t want to lose players in the season but we have to respect the rules in the FIFA calendar.
“As a club, we cannot do anything. It is a pity for him, and also for us as a club, that he is not even in the squad.
“He has been two weeks away but not featured in the games.
“To not have him in the squad and Morelos not having minutes with his country, it is very harsh. Especially for Morelos himself.”
Nightmare over
When the Light Blues were hit with the news that their main goalscoring threat had secured a call up back to the Colombia side it was bittersweet news.
His superb form since the arrival of the new manager meant the new attention was not a major surprise, and it was seen as positive news for the 25-year-old.
But it was always going to be a big loss, and so it proved as a draw against Ross County was followed by a damaging defeat against Celtic.
And as it has proved to ultimately be pointless as Morelos was not handed another cap the whole affair will go down as a huge negative.
The player may have been pleased to be back in the set up but surely will have been disappointed to not feature.
Fans will be hoping that he takes his frustration out on the visitors from Edinburgh on Sunday and the team can get back to winning ways.
In other Rangers news, Fabrizio Romano shares news about Aaron Ramsey’s longer-term prospects at Ibrox.