Rangers sensation Zak Lovelace hit by injury blow in live footage from Real Madrid youth clash
Zak Lovelace has been hit by a worrying injury blow as the Rangers teenager was stretchered off playing against Real Madrid for the youth side in Morocco.
The teenager has scored 14 times and recorded 10 assists in all competitions since his arrival from Millwall and was rewarded by a place in Michael Beale’s first-team squad for the 3-0 win over Livingston last week (18 February).
But having done enough to impress the Ibrox boss the young forward looks to have suffered a significant set back after being carried off with an apparently serious knee injury.
In match footage on YouTube from Arrydia TV the striker is seen sprinting for a through-ball (51min 40sec), before a routine challenge with the defender leaves him in agony on the ground amid obvious concern from teammates and opponents.
The Rangers youth side were well-beaten 4-0 by Real Madrid on Friday morning (24 February), but the more damaging element is the injury to Lovelace, who had been in impressive form for Brian Gilmour’s side prior at the AMF Tournament.
The 17-year-old forward had scored in a 3-2 defeat to Lyon a day earlier, after his double had won the game 2-1 against Marseille on Tuesday.
Rotten
The hope has to be that the injury doesn’t turn out to be as bad as initially feared, but the timing is particularly dispiriting for the youngster having just made his first match-day squad under Beale.
It is unlikely to have an effect on the Viaplay Cup final against Celtic on Sunday from a club point of view, but for Lovelace it risks blocking some impressive development since his summer arrival and nobody wants a player to suffer this misfortune, especially an up-and-coming teenager.
The Light Blues have had pretty miserable luck with injuries in forward positions this year, with joint-top scorer Antonio Colak’s season interrupted after Alfredo Morelos took time to get back up to speed earlier in the season after thigh surgery at the end of the previous campaign.
Kemar Roofe has had his season largely ruined so far, and despite finding the net in the Livingston win continues to pick up new knocks every time he gets back on the pitch.
That sort of situation might have given Lovelace an opening to get some minutes in the senior side having got the attention of the manager enough for a place on the bench.
But that is all now contingent on a favourable diagnosis on the knee injury he picked up in Morocco and a quick recovery, so fans will be wishing him all the best.
In other Rangers news, Jim White and Ally McCoist had fun laughing at Beale and his opposite number Ange Postecoglou.