Barry Ferguson’s fears confirmed after official Rangers announcement
Rangers have announced that Derek Cornelius has been replaced in their Europa League squad due to the severity of the injury sustained on international duty.
Cornelius was injured while away with Canada last week, leaving the field 30 minutes into his country’s 2-0 friendly win over Venezuela in the early hours of 19 November.
The defender joined Rangers on a season-long loan from Marseille on 1 September and has been used 12 times by the Gers in all competitions.
Cornelius will now be out of action until the end of January at the earliest in what is a major blow for Rangers.
Rangers replace Derek Cornelius with Dujon Sterling in Europa League squad
Cornelius’ injury opens the door for Clinton Nsiala and others at Ibrox, but there is no doubt this is a setback for Danny Rohl.
Speaking last weekend, former Rangers interim boss Barry Ferguson admitted he was worried about Cornelius and the prospect of the “excellent” summer recruit – as well as Mikey Moore and John Souttar – spending a spell on the sidelines.
Rangers confirmed via their official website on Wednesday that Cornelius has been replaced by Dujon Sterling in their Europa League league phase squad.
Teams are allowed to make changes to their squads if a player sustains a longer-term injury, such is the case in this instance.
Sterling is closing in on a return at Rangers having himself spent time on the sidelines, with the defender close to a first-team comeback.
What has Danny Rohl said about Cornelius’ injury layoff timeframe?
Rohl was asked about Cornelius’ injury at his pre-match press conference on Wednesday ahead of facing Braga.
The German confirmed that Cornelius had to undergo surgery on the problem and, when pressed on a possible return timeframe, added Rangers are looking at “minimum the end of January, maybe longer”.
As highlighted by the above Sofascore graphic, Cornelius has been a rock for Rangers when called upon, winning an average of five duels per game and completing nearly 88 per cent of his passes.
Cornelius has also yet to register a single defensive error, which many of his colleagues are unable to say.
Hopefully the he can get back up to speed earlier than expected, but it is more than likely that Rangers fans won’t be seeing the defender again for over two months.
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