Rangers have been dealt a potentially massive injury boost ahead of a defining period in their season, according to a fresh update at Ibrox.
Rangers dogged by injuries
The Scottish Premiership giants return to action with the league visit of Hibernian on Saturday afternoon, knowing they can go two points clear of Celtic at the top of the table, once they have played the same number of matches.
While Philippe Clement's side are in a great position to seal a special achievement this season, a string of injuries are threatening to hold them back in their quest for glory.
The likes of Danilo, Kieran Dowell and Abdallah Sima have all been relatively long-term absentees, affecting the level of depth at the manager's disposal. Those aren't the only individuals who are unavailable currently, however, with key midfielder Todd Cantwell also among those on the injury list.
Ridvan Yilmaz has now been added to the absentees, too, having hurt his leg on international duty last week, acting as a real concern, considering he has featured regularly at left-back this season, making a total of 22 appearances in the Scottish Premiership.
Rangers handed Yilmaz huge injury boost
According to a source who has spoken to The Daily Record, however, Yilmaz could be back for Rangers' massive clash with Celtic, with his injury suffered for Turkey not as serious as first thought:
"We’re hoping the recovery process will only take seven to 10 days. Fortunately the injury is not too severe. While we don’t want to put an exact date on it, we’re hoping he will be in the squad or, even better, on the pitch against Celtic."
This is fantastic news for Rangers, assuming Yilmaz does make a speedy recovery, considering how close a potentially defining league clash with Celtic is. The Gers host their biggest rivals on April 7th, and the result at Ibrox could easily end up determining where the title ends up come the end of the season.
Appearances
22
15
Starts
15
13
Goals
1
0
Assists
1
3
Tackles per game
1.1
1.5
Key passes per game
1.7
1.8
Interceptions per game
0.8
0.8
Granted, Borna Barisic is a safe pair of hands who could fill in for the Turk if he is not back in time for the pivotal derby clash, but the latter has been more of a regular under Clement for a reason, representing a younger option.
His manager has also said of him, "he has made a really big evolution – Ridvan is a fighter and we need fighters," with his mentality something that could really come to the fore as a critical period in the campaign arrives.
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Given Rangers' bad luck of late, it wouldn't be a shock to suddenly see Yilmaz ruled out of the Celtic match, missing more action than this update has claimed, but having him available would be a welcome shot in the arm.