Rangers managed to escape the international breaks without too much damage either through injury or Covid-19 related issues and Steven Gerrard has managed his squad to perfection either side of the breaks.
Bongani Zungu has a “slight knock” on his knee as revealed by the gaffer before the Aberdeen game, however, one potential worry is Nathan Patterson having to self isolate following an outbreak on Under-21 duty for Scotland, as reported by The Herald.
Aberdeen were missing arguably their best player with Lewis Ferguson missing following his positive test but the Rangers right-back has, fortunately, been distanced from the rest of the Gers squad before the situation got any worse.
The only issue we have now is that James Tavernier will be expected to play every game until Patterson returns, usually his workload can be managed with a view to him getting a break during the winter shut-down but there isn’t one this season.
The Scotland youth cap would have been expected to play against Falkirk in the league cup next weekend with the skipper playing in the two Europa League ties either side, however, he will now have to sit it out.
It’s an area we never really have to get concerned about such is the durability of Tavernier, he just doesn’t miss games which is remarkable when you consider his workload on a weekly basis, not just in terms of games, but in terms of the distance he covers.
Ryan Jack would probably be the worst case scenario option, if it were needed, but it’s yet another sign of how under appreciated our captain truly is that, when he is the only player available for his role, we have absolutely no fear about him being able to churn out consistently high performances without any rest – only when he’s away will we truly understand how good he is.