Captain's cause for concern: What Lawrence Shankland's injury means for Rangers
For Rangers fans leaving Ibrox on Saturday following the 1-0 league win over Motherwell, there would have been plenty of cause for optimism.
They had witnessed a third win in a row, seen signs of the defensive stability that had been missing earlier in the season, and viewed an attack that is beginning to look like it is gelling.
One fan who would not have enjoyed Saturday, though, is the current skipper.
Lawrence Shankland lasted barely five minutes before succumbing to a 'significant hamstring injury', with the manager stating that it was similar to the injury that kept Shankland out for two months last season when the duo were at Hearts, causing him to miss eight games at a key part of the season for the Jambos.
Given that Shankland began the season looking like he was feeling the weight of finally getting the move he had always dreamed of in the summer, off the back of a summer where he had World Cup duty with Scotland, albeit without seeing much match action, the timing of this latest injury could not be more destabilising for the forward.
Having scored in back-to-back league wins at Aberdeen and Falkirk, Shankland was beginning to show signs of coming into a little bit of form and building up a good connection with the likes of Kim Min-Su, Djeidi Gassama and Findlay Curtis around him.
Burden for Ryan Naderi increases
A prolonged absence from the team now increases the burden on Ryan Naderi, who provided the goalscoring replacement for Shankland at the weekend, but also the importance of £9 million plus signing Kevin Kelsy.
Kelsy will need to hit the ground running, with a big Old Firm double-header coming up after the rearranged St Mirren match is played this midweek.
Shankland, as a Rangers fan, will be gutted to be missing the Celtic matches, given the way last season ended for him as Hearts captain and the fact that he has a good record against them.
Also of concern is the extended international break coming up. Shankland now does not have a chance to introduce himself to new Scotland manager Sebastien Pocognoli, while there are already rumours of call-ups for younger players previously overlooked by Steve Clarke, such as new Sevilla striker Robbie Ure, Shankland's heir apparent at Tynecastle, James Wilson and Hull City's Oli McBurnie, who could be recalled now that Clarke, who had issues with the Tigers’ forward, has departed.
International misfortune
With competition for places potentially increasing, now is not a good time to find yourself dropping out of the Scotland squad due to an injury concern.
One advantage of the longer international break, plus Rangers' exit from Europe, is that if Shankland has a similar length of absence to last season, the number of Rangers games he could miss will be reduced.
However, it is still a big blow for both the club and the player to be missing this early in his Rangers career.
