Rangers start their Europa League campaign with a clash against Dutch side Feyenoord on Thursday, but they have been handed a huge blow after Ryan Kent injured his hamstring during Saturday’s 3-1 win over Livingston.
The summer arrival is expected to spend time on the sidelines, with manager Steven Gerrard admitting he could be ruled out for weeks.
Rangers brought the England youth international to Ibrox on transfer deadline day permanently for £7 million after he impressed during a season-long loan last term.
However, Kent’s second debut didn’t go as planned, as he spent just 41 minutes on the pitch before going off.
“Ryan has a hamstring injury unfortunately – it’s a blow for him and a blow for me and all the supporters. He trained all last week and looked ready to go. Unfortunately these things happen in football but it was the only disappointing thing to come out of today,” Gerrard said post-game, as reported by The Scottish Sun.
“We’ll assess it in the coming days but I predict he’ll be out for the next few weeks. Hamstring injuries are not days, unfortunately, they normally take a minimum of a couple of weeks. But it’s been a tough preseason for him. He wanted to get out and he had to wait until the final day of the window.
“Emotionally he’s probably been all over the place and then all of a sudden he gets his move. Maybe this will give him a couple of weeks to settle down and just realise what’s gone on in his life in the last six weeks. We’ll then get him back fitter and stronger for the rest of the season.”
Rangers bounced back from their Old Firm loss to Celtic with a fine game against Saturday’s hosts, coming from a goal down to stroll to victory.
Making it out of their Europa League group will be on Gerrard’s mind, and getting a result on Thursday would have been a perfect way to start the campaign.
Rangers have the Eredivisie side, Porto and Young Boys to challenge with for the only two spots for the next round, and they will only hope Kent can return sooner rather than later, as he definitely can help them progress beyond the group stages.
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