Rangers have returned from Scottish football’s winter break in style over the past week or so.
Philippe Clement is absolutely delighted with the wins over Dumbarton and Hibs in the Scottish Cup and Scottish Premiership respectively heading into the next clash with St Mirren.
Rangers cut the gap at the top to just five points behind Celtic and can make it just two points – for a few hours at least – with victory in Paisley.
So how is the first-team squad shaping up for the test against Stephen Robinson’s men who sit fifth in the top-flight?
Clement addressed the press on Friday afternoon and provided updates on seven players including on midfielders Nico Raskin and Todd Cantwell.
Rangers injury latest vs St Mirren
Todd Cantwell
The attacking midfielder pulled up injured in the first-half of the Hibs triumph, an incident which ended in Cantwell knocking into opposition boss Nick Montgomery accidentally.
That didn’t stop Cantwell from carrying on until the interval, in which time he scored a fantastic goal from outside the box to make it 2-0 on the night.
There were doubts over his fitness going to Paisley tomorrow but Clement has confirmed “he is ready for action.”
Nicolas Raskin
The same can be said for Nicolas Raskin. He too was brought off the field at half-time in Leith after feeling discomfort in his ankle.
Clement decided not to aggravate things any further but the manager has confirmed the Belgian is also fine and available for selection at the weekend.
Alex Lowry
The youngster was sent back to Rangers by Hearts after a fairly underwhelming loan spell in Edinburgh. It’s good that Lowry is back as it gives the team an extra dimension in attack but unfortunately, we won’t be seeing him in action for a spell.
That’s because Clement confirmed he will be out injured for the next six to eight weeks. In addition, the boss said: “Alex Lowry is a talented player – he developed away on loan and we are disappointed he is injured. It is difficult for him to get minutes here – so it is not an ideal situation.”
Ben Davies
Clement simply mentioned that defender Ben Davies won’t be available for the Rangers matchday squad this weekend.
Although it may come as a slight surprise to some because ahead of the cup game against Dumbarton last week, Clement confirmed Davies wasn’t far away from returning from his current setback.
Perhaps we’ll see a return for Davies next Saturday against Livingston at Ibrox.
Long-term absentees
It’s common knowledge now that all of Kieran Dowell, Kemar Roofe and Danilo are out for the foreseeable future.
It’s likely we won’t see the two strikers in question until the end of the season and it’s unknown as to how long Dowell’s ankle injury will keep him sidelined for.
