Rangers have been hit with a surprise twist in the tail after Dundee United manager Micky Mellon shocked us all by confirming star striker Lawrence Shankland will in fact be fit after all for this weekend, with the two-week international break doing the ex-Aberdeen man the world of good.

The prolific striker, who we revealed recently in fact has underwhelmed in his 18 SPL past appearances (just one goal), has been a sensational hit in the Scottish Championship for Ayr and Dundee Utd (48 goals in 57 outings) but has missed most of this season through injury, and was at best a doubt to face his boyhood team.

But his manager confirmed while he may not start, he will feature at some point and will make his first-ever SPL appearance at Ibrox this weekend.

Shankland is a long term ‘target’ for Rangers, and while no one from the club has ever mentioned the player in connection with a switch, the media and fans have sure made the link given his allegiances.

But as we revealed, his stats in the SPL are depressing, with just one goal in nearly 20 appearances for a side who had, as it was then, similar kinds of pressure as Rangers generally do, in matching Celtic and trying to push them for the title.

But of course the pressure at Pittodrie is a millionth of what it is at Ibrox, and if he couldn’t handle the pressure there, what will he do at Ibrox?

But of course, he was five years younger, and now at 25 he will be desperate to bag the first SPL against Rangers for any top flight club this season and prove he can cope with the expectation.

Naturally, we hope he fails.