Rangers have lost another player to injury, and this time it’s Abdallah Sima who returned early from the AFCON with a thigh issue.
Unfortunately the prognosis isn’t good for this one with the Senegal FA suggesting he will be out ‘for a long time’, but this might be inaccurate – more will be known once the medical scans are done and Rangers can properly assess the situation.
But at this early stage we could be waiting a month or more for his return, and it makes Rangers’ options up front even worse.
As things stand, McCausland, Dessers, Silva and Matondo along with a returning Tom Lawrence are pretty much the entire pool of strikers and wingers that Rangers currently have available. Unless you count Scott Wright, who we literally always forget in these articles.
It is far from great, and while Sima was set to miss most of January via AFCON anyway, now it’s even longer with injury.
Which means Rangers lose his goals now on top.
Rangers were already down to bare bones up front and on the flanks, with this news a few of those bones themselves are being removed as well and the skeletal remains of our attack struggles badly for numbers.
It didn’t stop the side bagging four goals in Dumbarton at least, and in competitive football the goals are still being scored, and not being overly conceded, so it is at least tolerable.
But Philippe Clement and the remaining squad can do only so much and on Wednesday a very tricky evening awaits amid a far higher level of opponent in Edinburgh v Hibs who have two wins in their last 3, so there’s a bit of form there.
The loss of Sima is a long way from ideal, and now we have to rely on others.