Tom Lawrence has suffered a “minor setback” in his return from injury as Rangers fans begin to get sick and tired of problems in the squad.
The Welsh international is simply the tip of the iceberg of a devastating series of injuries this season which have cost the club big in Europe and in Scottish football.
Nine points behind Celtic, how the club could’ve used Tom Lawrence in the midway point of the season and Rangers are paying the price of the injury now.
Speaking ahead of the clash with Livingston, Michael Beale confirmed the player has suffered a “minor setback” and that there is no estimated date on his return.
“If we talk about Tom [Lawrence], Tom’s a player that I’ve seen come through at Man United as a young boy,” said Michael Beale [Rangers].
“I’ve seen him go on to be an international and play very well down in the Championship. He came into the club and I thought in the early part of the season he looked like a fantastic signing and he was playing to a really strong level.
“Unfortunately, he’s suffered a long-term injury since then but when he comes back he’s part of this squad moving forward.
“I think he’s very similar to Malik Tillman, he can play in the final third or he can play from midfield breaking out.
“He brings international experience and he had a fantastic grounding at Man United as a young player which I saw first-hand. I’m excited to work with him when he finally returns to our squad.
“There’s no imminent return for him in terms of returning to playing. We’re hopeful that he’ll return to training in a few weeks. He’s had a minor setback, it’s a delicate one.
“We’ve been away to see specialists but there’s no exact timeline on it. It’s a matter of him getting out on the grass and starting his rehab and seeing how he feels. He was a long way along with his rehab when we had a minor setback.”
Rangers fans sick of injury problems amid Tom Lawrence news
The club’s supporters have been let down by a string of major injuries from within the side which have raised questions over training, conditioning and the club’s transfer policy.
Tom Lawrence is currently one of four summer signings nursing injury problems with no signs of returning any time soon, joining John Souttar, Ridvan Yilmaz and Rabbi Matondo on the sidelines.
Ben Davies took a solid six months to start playing regularly whilst Antonio Colak is struggling to break back into the side after injury problems of his own.
When you consider that Rangers already had a squad of crocks – usual suspects Filip Helander, Kemar Roofe and Ryan Jack all included – then the situation has been dire from the first whistle this campaign.
Alfredo Morelos toiled to get back to full fitness after his recovery from a long-term issue, there have been questions over the fitness of John Lundstram and James Tavernier, whilst Nicolas Raskin has seemingly caught the injury contagion from within the walls of Ibrox.
And that’s before you talk about a devastating knock to Connor Goldson which caused untold damage to the campaign with veteran midfielder Steven Davis out for the season and Ianis Hagi only just recovering from a cruciate ligament injury. Glen Kamara has even spent time out with injury this year.
Tom Lawrence is already being talked about amongst supporters for next season, because at the minute he doesn’t look anywhere near returning for the business end of this one, but injury must be at the forefront of Beale’s thinking in the next campaign.
Rangers have got a squad of crocks and if this continues heading into season 23/24 we can kiss the next league championship goodbye as well.
It’s time for Michael Beale to be ruthless and if these players are not available, there’s no wonder he’s already threatening to wield the axe.
