- Glasgow Rangers will play Club Brugge in the play-off round of the Champions League qualifiers with a chance to reach the league phase of the competition.
The Gers booked their place in the play-off round with a 4-2 aggregate win over Viktoria Plzen in the last eight days, which was largely thanks to their 3-0 win at Ibrox last week.
Despite a 2-1 defeat away to the Czechia-based outfit on Tuesday night, Russell Martin will be delighted that his team have navigated two Champions League qualifying ties already.
What the former Southampton boss will not be best pleased with, though, is that one of his star players could be facing a significant period on the sidelines.Cyriel Dessers hobbled off the pitch with an injury against Viktoria Plzen and Martin confirmed after the game that the forward has suffered a “nasty” injury to his ankle.
It now remains to be seen how long the Nigeria international will be out of action for, as the Scottish giants need to wait on the results of a medical scan.
Why Rangers would need to replace Cyriel Dessers
The Light Blues would need to replace the former Cremonese centre-forward in the summer transfer window if this injury is as ‘nasty’ as Martin suggests, and he is out for a significant period of timeThis is because, as it stands, Danilo is the only fit senior number nine in the squad, with Dessers and Hamza Igamane currently sidelined. That is a concern because the Brazilian forward has a worrying fitness record of his own.
The ex-Feyenoord attacker has missed 53 matches through injury in the last two seasons, per Transfermarkt. This means that Martin cannot rely on him to be available week-in-week-out, as the striker has not proven that he has the durability to be consistentlyTherefore, a potentially long-term injury to Dessers, who scored against Viktoria Plzen in the first leg at Ibrox, would result in the Gers needing to find a new centre-forward to lead the line.
Be the first to comment