All of a sudden, following a plethora of injury chaos which have disrupted Rangers’ season, there is a vast depth up front again, with Abdallah Sima, Kemar Roofe, Cyriel Dessers and Fabio Silva among the options once more fit and available.
With Rangers’ injury crisis plaguing the majority of the campaign, the return of so many players comes at an outstanding time, quite literally ‘just in time’ for when the club needs them, and manager Philippe Clement has confirmed that Roofe is now looking 90-minute ready:
“Physically yes but there’s also competition from other players. That way it’s a positive thing. I start to get headaches again about making decisions. But it’s only a positive thing for the club I think. He’s always been a natural goalscorer. He’s someone who’s really hungry to score goals and who is really active in the box and who works hard for the team also.”
This is what we’ve needed up front for a very long time, rather than just Dessers and Silva, because Roofe’s quality is proven for sure; his fitness is, and has always been, his detracting factor.
But if we add the return of Abdallah Sima as well, who is already closing in on starting XI fitness, it’s looking remarkably more positive to see the level of depth on the bench change from emergency use of the kids, to the majority of the heavy-hitters from the senior squad.
It’s absolutely the best time of the season for this to happen, and the international break clearly couldn’t have come at a better time for the club, and dare we say it, the Dundee postponement as well.
Those 20 or so days gave extra recovery time for injured players, and with the return of Kieran Dowell and Ross McCausland as well, Rangers’ squad health just looks so so much better.
But vitally, it’s having a clinical finisher up front again in Roofe that is a major boost.
If he can now remain fit till the end of the season and even have an impact on matches, maybe the shock could happen of a new deal after all.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
We have options up front again. It’s been far too long.