Rangers striker Kemar Roofe fit to face Eintracht Frankfurt in Europa League final
Giovanni van Bronckhorst has confirmed that Rangers striker Kemar Roofe has recovered from injury in time for the Europa League final.
The Jamaican has been out of action since the Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic at Hampden Park but hopes were raised when he was spotted boarding the plane to Seville with the rest of the Gers’ squad.
The manager has now given full confirmation of the 29-year-old’s fitness for the biggest game in the club’s recent history against Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday (18 May).
Kemar (Roofe) is a boost for us, he is important and I am happy for him as he has been working hard to return. He is there and ready to play a part,” van Bronckhorst said in his pre-match press conference, as quoted by the Rangers Twitter account.
Massive
The Light Blues have been tremendous in Roofe’s absence, especially with Alfredo Morelos, the club’s top scorer, also out for the season.
They have managed to beat some of Europe’s toughest teams without a recognised striker, or at least one who plays there naturally, and now they have that final piece of the jigsaw back available to them.
Having said that, it would be a big risk to start the Jamaican at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium on Wednesday given he hasn’t played any competitive football since that day at Hampden Park.
van Bronckhorst knows how his team functions without a natural number nine up top and it has brought about some wonderful results for the Dutchman and he would be very wise to stick with it from the start against the Bundesliga side.
Roofe can still come on and be that impact player we all know he can be and should the Gers need a goal late on, you want him on the pitch which won’t be the case if he is made to start after so long out.
In other Rangers news, Belinda Carlisle has sent her well wishes to the Ranges side in a very unusual social media video.