Rangers Facing Injury Crisis as McInnes Prepares for Squad Changes

Derek McInnes admits Rangers are “playing with fire” at the back and scrambling for a new No 9 after a brutal injury double blow ripped through his plans for the season.

The manager confirmed that striker Youssef Chermiti faces a long spell out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury picked up in Saturday’s defeat by Hibernian – an injury that arrived just days after a sizeable bid for the 22-year-old was knocked back. Galatasaray have been heavily linked with the Portugal Under-21 forward, who only recently arrived from Everton.

Now, instead of building a team around him, McInnes is preparing for life without him.

Chermiti will see a specialist in London and could undergo surgery as early as next week. For a player at 22, it is a savage setback. For Rangers, it rips a hole straight through the heart of their attacking blueprint.

“Selfishly, he's a big part of what we wanted to do this season and he's obviously a talented boy,” McInnes said, acknowledging both the club’s frustration and the personal blow for the youngster. “For Youssef himself, obviously he's very young. It'll be difficult for him to accept and understand what's happened to him.”

The timing, at least, offers one slim positive. The window is still open. Rangers can move.

“The only saving grace from our point of view as a club is the fact it's happened in a transfer window and we've got the opportunity to react to that,” McInnes admitted. “We are obviously looking at maybe strengthening that area of the pitch. We're trying to be quite proactive with that and seeing what is available. Number nines are normally the most difficult ones to get.”

The rejected offer for Chermiti now feels like a footnote. “Obviously it was a big number that was reportedly bid for him. I don't know exactly what the figure was. Obviously the club rejected that. It's neither here nor there now, to be honest. It's done.”

Defensive frailty and a left-back void

If losing his main striker was not enough, McInnes also has to contend with a fresh defensive headache.

Left-back Tuur Rommens, injured in the same match against Hibs, has been ruled out for up to eight weeks with a groin problem. That absence exposes a glaring imbalance in the squad.

“We don't have a left-footed defender in the building,” McInnes said. “We're keen to try and get that resolved as quickly as possible.

“With the numbers we've got there, we are kind of playing with fire. Defensively, it's always been a bit of a concern. I always thought we were short of numbers there.”

The manager made no attempt to dress it up. Defensive reinforcements were already on the to-do list; Rommens’ injury has simply turned a priority into an urgent requirement.

“Strengthening defensively and in wide areas was the priority,” he stressed. “We all know what we need but acting really swiftly would help matters.”

Wingers, loans and a race against time

Rangers’ recruitment team now face a frantic spell as they try to reshape the squad on the fly.

“We're trying to bring wingers in,” McInnes said. “It's in the hands of the recruitment team to try and get that over the line. Nothing's been finalised with anything yet.”

Brentford’s Jayden Meghoma, 20, is one option under consideration at left-back, with the youngster linked with a second loan spell at Ibrox after spending last season there. On the flanks, PSV Eindhoven winger Couhaib Driouech has been strongly touted for a permanent move.

McInnes did not shy away from that speculation.

“We've been linked with a lot of players,” he said. “That one's gained a bit of momentum and we are quite far down the line with that but I don't know where it's at currently. All these things are still ongoing.”

Europe looming, squad stretched

All of this unfolds against a demanding backdrop. On Thursday, Rangers must overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit at home to Jagiellonia Bialystok in their Europa League third-round qualifier.

A season-shaping night is coming, and McInnes knows he goes into it light in key areas, without his main striker, short of defenders and waiting on reinforcements that have yet to walk through the door.

Rangers wanted this window to refine a squad. Now it has become a rescue mission.