After the Zambian FA claimed Rangers striker Fashion Sakala was excluded from his nation’s WC qualifiers through injury, we have to question what on earth is going on with the former Oostende man.

Don’t get us wrong, his stats in Belgium weren’t too bad at all, with 16 in 34 last season and 6 assists, but thus far in Scotland the lad’s start has been stuttering at best.

We saw him come on v Celtic and he looked reasonably fit, but now his NT boss claims that’s not the case and he alleges Rangers initially released him to face Mauritiana and Tunisia, but that the player himself changed his mind and claimed he wasn’t fit enough.

If he wasn’t fit enough, why was he on Rangers’ bench?

Nathan Patterson, with just two outings this season, last played on the 26th, so was hardly in a state of full match sharpness either, was not only called up but happily played the full 90 v Moldova.

Now, let’s be clear, Patterson has no recent injury issues, but his present match fitness isn’t actually much better than Sakala’s.

If the Zambian FA are correct, Sakala’s fitness really is a massive problem already, with the new lad currently proving to be very unreliable and plagued by injury concerns.

He’s only been in Scotland a few weeks, and of course had quarantine to deal with too, but so did Alfredo Morelos and he looks pretty sharp.

The Sakala situation is odd, but it is what it is. As long as Morelos remains fit and enthusiastic, it probably doesn’t matter that much.