Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has confirmed a major double blow for the Gers ahead of Saturday’s trip to Dundee [Rangers FC Twitter].
The Gers manager spoke to the media on Friday afternoon, 24 hours before the scheduled kick-off at Dens Park, and provided a squad update.
It was already known that Filip Helander would be missing, given that he was recently ruled out until December after undergoing surgery on a knee problem.
Yet, the situation regarding Ryan Kent and Ryan Jack was less clear.
No proper assessment of Kent’s hamstring injury had been provided since he sustained it against Lyon in the Europa League last week, while uncertainty surrounded Jack following recent claims that he was back in light training after a long injury layoff [The Athletic].
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However, it’s now been confirmed that both Ryans will miss several more weeks of action.
“Ryan Kent’s return will be roughly 3-4 weeks but that will depend a lot on the rehab process,” said Gerrard [Rangers FC Twitter].
“Ryan Jack is due back on the training pitch any day now and hopefully we’ll get him back with the group in a couple of weeks.”
Double Rangers blow confirmed ahead of Dundee trip
It was always unlikely that either Kent or Jack would make the Dens Park fixture, but the news that they will both be missing until at least the back end of next month is tough to take for Rangers fans.
Kent’s injury means there’s pressure on Scott Wright to up his relatively disappointing early-season performance levels, while John Lundstram will be looking to establish himself in the team before Jack is back available.
Gerrard should still have more than enough quality at his disposal to see off bottom-of-the-table Dundee at the weekend but more challenging fixtures against Sparta Prague and a Hibernian side unbeaten in domestic competition await.
In other news, a Rangers-linked international striker has spoken out about his future following multi-club speculation.