Rangers ‘have another injury concern’ after what was seen v Athletic Bilbao
Dujon Sterling was injured as Rangers drew 0- 0 against Athletic Club in the Europa League, but another key player may have picked up a knock at Ibrox.
Barry Ferguson’s team hosted the La Liga outfit on Thursday (10 April) and showed resilience to hold on despite going down to 10 men early in the match.
In the final minutes of the game, the Gers were forced to play with nine players after using all of their substitutes as Sterling had to be stretchered off at Ibrox.
Vaclav Cerny played the entire game against Athletic and could potentially be at risk of re-injuring himself, but there’s another star that the Bears may have concerns about.
Liam Kelly injury seen in Rangers draw v Athletic
Liam Kelly appeared to have injured himself towards the end of the game against Athletic, Keith Jackson says.
The Daily Record journalist saw an issue with the goalkeeper’s right arm as he played the 90 minutes plus extra time at Ibrox.
| Competition (2024/25) | Appearances | Clean sheets |
| Scottish Premiership | 6 | 3 |
| Europa League | 1 | 1 |
| Scottish Cup | 1 | 0 |
Jackson feels the 29-year-old Scotsman may have to take care of the potential knock ahead of the Glaswegian outfit’s match against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Sunday (13 April).
Speaking on Hotline Live (10 April), the journalist said: “You saw that Kelly had sort of an injury on his right arm towards the end of that game. That will need to be rested. But he was able to stay on. Play on for the rest of the game.”
Jack Butland omission v Athletic right call by Ferguson
Jack Butland seemed pleased for Kelly at full-time against Athletic after the Scotland international replaced him in the starting lineup.
It would make sense for the former Manchester United ace to be disheartened after dropping down the pecking order due to his latest mistake in the 2-0 loss to Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership.
Ferguson’s decision proved right, and the interim manager deserves credit for making the bold call.
Rangers would arguably want Kelly to start again in the reverse fixture at San Mames, and they’ll hope his apparent injury isn’t serious enough.
While Butland’s heroics in the last-16 against Fenerbahce were influential in the Gers’ qualification to the quarter-finals, he has been unreliable for most of the season.
The Light Blues will have a massive decision to make on the 32-year-old English shot-stopper’s future at Ibrox next summer.
For now, it looks like Kelly will keep his place in between the sticks for the foreseeable future, but whether he’s a long-term solution for the Bears’ issues remains to be seen.
The Glaswegian outfit’s focus for the time being will be on qualifying for the semi-finals of the Europa League somehow.