Rangers winger Jamie Murphy will miss the rest of the season after damaging his anterior cruciate ligament against Kilmarnock on Sunday.
Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard confirmed the news to reporters in his UEFA Europa League pre-match press conference on Wednesday, after Murphy underwent a scan earlier this week to find out the full extent of his injury.
As quoted by Sky Sports, Gerrard said:
It’s sad news for Jamie. I’m bitterly disappointed over it. He will be missing for the remainder of the season. He’s got an ACL injury and we got the news we all didn’t want.
He’s coming to terms with it now but at the beginning he was upset, as you can understand. He’s a player who loves playing the game and he’s been excellent for me since day one.
We are trying to look for the positives out of it now and it’s important Jamie does everything he can in terms of his rehab and comes back in the best physical condition he can come back in.
We’ll give him every bit of support he needs and we will stick with him. He’s a very important player for us for many, many years.
It’s a huge blow not just to the player, but the club too, who only invested in his permanent signing this summer. Situations are never guaranteed in football but this seems like a particularly cruel way for him to start his Ibrox career for real.
Murphy scored five goals and assisted ten times in the second half of last season on loan and started this season superbly too, assisting three times and scoring in UEFA Europa League qualifying.
How the club will handle is absence going forward remains to be seen with the option of either giving youngsters like Glenn Middleton more of a chance or entering the transfer market to sign a replacement.
Do you want to sign a Murphy replacement or is there enough attacking talent at Ibrox to fill the void? Share your thoughts in the comments below…