Giovanni van Bronckhorst has only cautiously hinted that Alex Lowry is closing in on a first-team return at long last, following that horror injury sustained months ago in what was nothing more than a friendly.
The attacking midfielder was set back more than two months all those weeks ago, in fact being set back half a year, given his project during the summer, on top of some niggling injuries, was to bulk up for the rigours of the SPL.
Rangers are well aware the playmaker is not physically strong enough yet to handle the Scottish league, and while he has all the talent, his being brushed off the ball easily is something he needs to work on.
So he was given a fitness program for muscle mass earlier this year, but through complications of injury and that rotten ‘challenge’, has seen himself set back a fair way.
But Gio has cautiously confirmed he is finally approaching fitness.
He said:
“Alex is a very creative player, a player who can create chances and who can score as well. Alex joined two sessions this week so he is back in full training with the squad. I think he needs a couple more training sessions to get stronger physically but he is a player that we have back. We know his qualities in all the games we are going to play in the next month. He will be involved when he is ready.”
This is quite a telling hint, ‘stronger physically’ is Gio-talk for needs to build up more bulk. Managers don’t talk about that when it comes to pure injury recovery, and admitting he’ll be ready when he’s ready speaks a lot too about the fact fans may still have a bit of a wait.
Remember Morelos signing his new deal in the next two weeks?
We may still be waiting a little for Lowry to be set to properly make his full mark at Ibrox.