It has been claimed, exclusively, by the not-overly-reliable Chris Jack that Zak Lovelace is officially out for the season having suffered a hamstring tear against Royal Antwerp.

The 18-year-old was subbed off on 18 minutes against the Belgian giants and while some suggested it was ‘precautionary’ Ibrox Noise suggested otherwise, and it didn’t look too good.

Well scans have apparently unearthed a deeper issue with Lovelace and he’s now done for the season in yet another injury blow for the club, with the number of crocks at Ibrox this season reaching bewildering levels.

In this case, Lovelace is in fact coming back from an injury which ruled him out for most of the season in the first place, but over a month fit and he’s now sidelined again in another issue which must be staggeringly frustrating for the boy.

Lovelace hasn’t really broken through to the first team yet, managing 7 matchday squads before sustaining an injury in one of those senior appearances against St Mirren, which is the one he’s just recovered from.

It’s just yet another lost player for Rangers this season, who to still be fighting on a staggering three fronts having won the League Cup already is a pretty incredible feat.

That Philippe Clement was able to score a draw in Lisbon with a rather fringe squad and bare bones gives some idea of what he’s been able to defy in order to achieve pretty extraordinary things, but losing yet another option isn’t really helping.

Lovelace joins Sima, Danilo, Cantwell, Lowry, Cortes, Matondo, Wright and potentially Dujon Sterling on the injured list, but as we’ve reported before, it changes almost daily.

Let’s hope his chin stays up on this one.