Rangers player suffers midweek injury setback weeks after Clement ushered in his return from serious lay-off

A Rangers player has suffered another injury setback just weeks after returning from a serious blow.

Zak Lovelace suffered a brutal injury on his full debut for Rangers in October 2023 during a 3-0 victory over St Mirren. He had to be stretchered off and since then, the forward has only been in the first team picture once. That came when Philippe Clement's side ran out comfortable winners over FCSB in the Europa League last month.

Now in action for the ‘B’ team, Lovelace had to be taken off in the first half as he was unable to continue through injury. Philippe Clement’s side take on Nice in the Europa League on Thursday.

Speaking on the win against Clyde in the Glasgow Cup where Lovelace sustained his injury, coach David McCallum said to Rangers TV: “It was a pretty comfortable win. We demanded a real standard from the boys prior to the game. We asked them to show a good appetite and enthusiasm which we definitely saw.

“The one bit that we questioned them on was taking chances; we didn’t manage to score as much as we wanted despite having control of the ball in the first half. At 1-0, Mason [Munn] makes two fantastic saves, so it certainly wasn’t an easy game to win.

“It was a game which we certainly controlled, but Mason has had to make two big saves which helped the boys go on and win the game.

“Obviously Zak Lovelace started the game and Archie [Stevens] was a little bit disappointed not to start. He had to come off the bench and he showed a great positive attitude. We spoke to him before the game about the reasons why, but he came on and really tuned himself into the game, played well, and got his goal.

“It’s also worth mentioning that Paul Nsio had an outstanding game. His energy and desire to get about the pitch, whether that be in possession or out of possession, was second to none.”