Rangers star Todd Cantwell has been ruled out of as many as five more matches through injury, including both legs of their Europa League clash with Benfica, acting as a major blow.
Rangers injury news
The Gers are in fine form currently, but while things are generally going swimmingly for Philippe Clement and his side, that's not to say that injuries aren't an issue.
Danilo is one player who is absent currently, with a knee injury suffered against Hearts back in December still keeping him sidelined, and the same applies to Rabbi Matondo, who has a muscle problem.
Kemar Roofe is another important Rangers who has struggled at times this term, with fitness issues plaguing his season and limiting him to just five starts in the Scottish Premiership.
Now, another concerning injury update has emerged regarding Cantwell's latest issue, with Clement providing the negative news on him.
Rangers dealt Todd Cantwell blow
Speaking to the media on Friday [via Football Scotland], the Rangers manager confirmed that Todd Cantwell will miss around three weeks of action through injury, which would take us to about the 15th of March.
"Todd will be out for a few weeks which of course is a disappointment for him, for the team, because he was in really good form, but that is part of football and we've coped with these things the last couple of months so it's about other players stepping up and showing the right things for the team."
Kilmarnock (a)
28 February
Premiership
Motherwell (h)
2 March
Premiership
Benfica (a)
7 March
Europa League
Hibernian (a)
10 March
FA Cup
Benfica (h)
14 March
Europa League
There is no doubt that this is a significant blow for Rangers, considering what an influential performer Cantwell has been for them so far this season. The Englishman has scored five goals and registered three assists in the Scottish Premiership in 2023/24 to date, but his quality on the ball has also been matched by his work ethic off it.
Former youth team coach Gary Cockaday once lauded Cantwell's brilliance as a player since he was young: “At one point, two of them had Todd up against the line and you could see them thinking, ‘Gotcha!’. Todd looked at one of them in the eye, put his toe under the ball, flicked it back over his head, turned and he was gone.
"All without looking at the ball. He did things every week that were just special. It was God-given. No one taught it. I always believed if you had someone like that, don’t change them or make them conform."
The hope is that Rangers can fill the void left by Cantwell effectively, continuing to win games in the title race and also progressing past Benfica in the Europa League, but he is going to be a difficult player to replace, such is his all-round quality as a footballer.
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It is setbacks such as these that will test Clement's squad depth at such a crucial point in the campaign, however, and if they are to go all the way in the title battle and see off Celtic, these are the situations they have to deal with impressively.
