Absolute dismay at further bad injury news for Rangers

With the news that Kemar Roofe and Tom Lawrence are ruled out for an extended period, it has compounded a miserable few days at Ibrox.

Feelings and tensions are still running high following the bitter disappointment of the League Cup loss last Sunday. The supporters want to see progress, a plan and something to believe in, but that isn’t on the horizon just now.

Michael Beale was right to point out that steady progress has been made since his return. That has been reflected in the results since he took over and now the squad is complemented with the arrivals of Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin. However, the outcome of their influence as well as real progress is some way off compared to the here and now.

Ahead of Saturday’s visit of Kilmarnock, the manager revealed the latest disappointment with the Welsh international ruled out for the rest of this season. Hopes for the injury-stricken Roofe won’t be much better. Here is what Beale had to say:

“Tom Lawrence has had another operation and won’t be available until the back end of pre-season.”

“Kemar tried to train on Saturday but it was no good. Unfortunately with Kemar he’s going through a tough time at the moment and he will be away to see someone as we need to get to the end of this. He has a problem with his calf but there are one or two other things that could be leading to that that have been nagging. Me and him have had a real heart to heart.”

The loss of two key players is a blow but in the bigger picture of this campaign so far, their impact has been minimal due to their respective injury issues. It is just one thing after another with Roofe unfortunately, but Lawrence has no significant track record on the treatment table.

Beale will need to rely on largely the same group of players, with the objective to plot a response on the pitch in the weeks ahead.