Rangers dealt harsh injury blow during Scottish Premiership clash at Hearts

Rangers have been handed a fresh injury concern ahead of Saturday's home meeting with Dundee after Tom Lawrence was forced off with injury early on in their Scottish Premiership clash at Hearts on Wednesday night.

The Rangers man went down with around 17 minutes played and after receiving treatment on the field, was taken off and replaced by Jose Cifuentes as he headed straight down the tunnel after leaving the pitch at Tynecastle.

It is yet another harsh blow for the former Derby County man, who, prior to Wednesday's fixture with Hearts, had made just 19 appearances for the Ibrox side since his move to Glasgow in July 2022. His start against Hearts was his fifth of the Scottish Premiership season, as he made his return to action in the 2-0 win at Livingston last month. He also featured in the games against Aberdeen and St Mirren having missed eight of the first 11 league outings.

Lawrence enjoyed a flying start to his Ibrox career as he scored twice and provided two assists in the opening five league games of the 2022-23 season, with Rangers winning four of those matches and drawing the other. However, he sustained a serious Achilles injury ahead of a 4-0 loss to Celtic at the start of September and did not play again for the remainder of the season.

Speaking about his previous injury problems, Lawrence said earlier this week: “I had a long period out which was very frustrating. You think you're coming back to a good place and then you get another injury. It is frustrating but it is football at the end of the day and I've done everything I can to get back to a good level now and hopefully I can play as many games as I can. Hopefully there is a lot more [to come], game by game and training by training, hopefully I can show my best football then."

Rangers will hope the latest set-back is not too severe, as Lawrence looks to show his best for the Light Blues.