Giovanni van Bronckhorst reveals yet another new Rangers injury with Fashion Sakala out v Hearts
Fashion Sakala is out for the game against Hearts in the latest addition to the worsening injury crisis at Rangers, the manager has revealed.
After the damaging defeat at St. Johnstone on Sunday (6 November) Giovanni van Bronckhorst is under major pressure in charge at the club and has been hit by yet another new blow.
Zambian international attacker Sakala has been one of the brighter sparks as the form has taken a nosedive in recent weeks, but he is set to join the massed ranks of unavailable players for Wednesday’s game at Ibrox (9 November).
The embattled manager confirmed in his Tuesday press-conference the latest injury blow, with the club’s official Twitter page saying: “GVB: Lowry is fit but not in the squad for tomorrow, Fashion has a minor muscle issue from Sunday and will be out for a week and back for sure after the World Cup.”
When it rains it pours
The Dutchman needs every bit of good luck that he can come across currently, with the form poor and the confidence in his squad apparently even worse.
But it looks like the opposite is the case, as one of his better performers recently is now also out, adding to the extensive injury list at Ibrox.
Gio is already without the services of summer signings John Souttar, Ridvan Yilmaz and Tom Lawrence, while Connor Goldson’s absence has hit hard.
Long-term absentees Filip Helander and Ianis Hagi are almost par for the course in the circumstances, while Alex Lowry was injured some weeks ago playing for the B team.
With the dreadful European campaign now over there is a major job to do in overhauling a now-seven point gap to Celtic at the top of the table.
How long the manager is around to attempt to pull that off remains to be seen, as it appears the board are not yet minded to remove him.
The injury crisis is apparently enough of a mitigating factor for them, although there are suspicions that they are simply unable to afford to sack van Bronckhorst and his staff.
In other Rangers news, one senior player has been accused of downing tools and wanting to leave, while Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos can also leave.