Daniel Feliciano

Tue 13 September 2022 13:40, UK

Rangers have been dealt a major blow ahead of their Champions League clash against Napoli after goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin missed training on Tuesday.

McLaughlin has displaced club legend Allan McGregor as the number one goalkeeper this season, starting every game except for the Scottish Cup tie against Queen of the South.

But the 34-year-old Scotland international wasn’t seen in training for the huge Champions League clash with Napoli, and that could open the door for McGregor to claim his shirt back.

Sky Sports reported that McLaughlin wasn’t in training on Tuesday, and after consecutive 4-0 defeats to Celtic and Ajax last week the manager had been under pressure to drop him anyway.

Both Ally McCoist and Kenny Miller wanted to see McGregor brought back into the fold ahead of the Ajax game, saying that Rangers didn’t have their best team out if he wasn’t between the sticks.

Blessing in disguise?

Could this be a blessing in disguise for the Rangers team and manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst?

The boss has been open and vocal in his support for McLaughlin despite several errors this season already and the poor results last week that have got him under increasing pressure.

But with injury it means there will be little talk about why McLaughlin isn’t in the side and if McGregor plays well enough then there will be every reason to keep him in the side in the same way he kept in McLaughlin.

McGregor has been exceptional for Rangers over the last 12 months despite his age, especially in Europe, and there was a clamour for him to re-sign rather than retire last summer.

Now he has a chance to earn back his shirt and number one status, and many Rangers fans will be delighted to have him in goal for their biggest game of the season rather than the man who was his understudy last year.

In other Rangers news, Tam McManus predicts result of Champions League clash vs Napoli