Steven Gerrard was straight off the bat with his comments in terms of Kemar Roofe rejoining to the Rangers squad following a very late finish on international duty.
As expected, in full preparation for the Hearts game and under their duty of care procedures, Rangers will have staff waiting on Roofe’s arrival back to Glasgow.
The gaffer was asked about his frontman at today’s press conference and he responded with honesty in a matter of fact way, simply telling the situation as it is.
Gerrard later spoke about how Rangers want their players to be playing with their national teams and effectively the timescales are something that the management team need to deal with regardless of frustration, as well as the players themselves managing their approach and preparation in a totally professional manner.
Specifically on the return of the Jamaica striker, he stated:
“Kemar Roofe is in transit. We have had contact, we have obviously spoken to him and we are hoping to have him available for tomorrow but he will certainly miss today’s session because he is still travelling back but we have the medical team waiting for him later on, who will look after and assess him to make sure that he is ready for tomorrow’s game. “
Reaction
Roofe is likely to have to settle for a place on the bench tomorrow but checks and precautions will be in place in there are any issues with his condition.
He will know what he needs to do and the rest will be taken care of by Gerrard and his staff. These late arrivals are unhelpful but par for the course when players are involved on international duty outside of Europe.
Overall, what matter most is the reaction of the team, tomorrow. Most of the squad including the returning international stars should be ready, fresh and raring to go, to lay down another marker at the top of the table.