Daniel Feliciano

Fri 28 October 2022 13:47, UK

Rangers are set to be without seven first-team players for Saturday’s Scottish Premiership clash with Aberdeen at Ibrox, Giovanni van Bronckhorst has confirmed.

The Gers could only muster up a draw against Livingston last weekend to fall four points behind Celtic at the top of the table, before another European thumping by Napoli in midweek.

But as they look to get back on track domestically they’ll have to do it without all of Connor Goldson, John Souttar, Filip Helander, Glen Kamara, Tom Lawrence, Kemar Roofe and Ianis Hagi.

The boss revealed that striker Roofe has suffered a setback and remains unavailable, while there are no other fresh worries to the squad.

Youngster Charlie McCann is ready to return to the squad following a minor injury, as Rangers look desperately to close the gap with Celtic as Van Bronckhorst battles to keep his job.

Positive

While it may seem like a bad set of news for Rangers’ first-team, it’s actually a positive that nobody else has got injured and Van Bronckhorst’s options haven’t been weakened further.

Roofe’s injury is new, but he is yet to make an appearance this season anyway and is third in the pecking order up front behind both Antonio Colak and Alfredo Morelos this season.

The defensive fragility remains but is nothing new, and gives Leon King, Ben Davies and James Sands a chance to continue competing for their place in the side while Ridvan Yilmaz could keep his place in the side after impressing against Napoli.

Glen Kamara is unlikely to feature which is arguably a blow considering he was supposed to be close to returning in midweek, but there are plenty of options in the squad to fill in and there should still be plenty of quality to get a win here.

This is a must-win game, as is every Premiership game before the World Cup, and anything but three points could see the boss out of a job before the weekend is over.

In other Rangers news, an official club partner has issued a two-word reaction to some major news