Rangers star out for months as Grade 3 muscle tear emerges - report

Rabbi Matondo is set to be out of action for Rangers for at least three months after a “severe” hamstring injury was revealed by a scan, Football Scotland reports.

According to the outlet’s website on 5 September the Welsh international winger could be out even longer after a grade three hamstring tear emerged following his substitution in the 3-0 loss at Celtic.

The wide man had attracted transfer interest ahead of the deadline and was “strongly linked” to Leeds United and Blackburn, but Philippe Clement showed faith and a loan offer from Norwich was rejected [Football Scotland, 30 August].

But he is now out of action for three months “at the very least” and has been left out of the Gers’ Europa League squad.

Rangers hit by another injury blow after Danilo surgery

The medical record at Ibrox continues to get worse and worse despite changes made by Clement during the summer.

The news on Matondo comes the same day that it emerged Brazilian striker Danilo is set for another month out after surgery on a set-back to his knee problem [Chris Jack, 5 September].

And the series of recent events as they relate specifically to Matondo could hardly have worked out worse for the Light Blues.

Until a couple of weeks ago most would have named him as one of many within the squad for whom a move away looked necessary in the hope that some late signings could be funded before the deadline.

But a star performance and two goals against Ross County in the last game before the window closed seemingly changed Clement’s view as he predicted the Welshman would stay after the game [Sky Sports, 24 August].

Instead it has worked out that the Belgian went without any transfer fee, or space on the wage bill from offloading his massive contract, and still won’t be able to call on him on the pitch anyway.

Fans are already concerned about the strength, or lack-thereof, in the Rangers attack coming out of the market, and with Danilo out for weeks and Matondo now out for months the situation has immediately worsened.

So there will now be all the more pressure on the likes of Cyriel Dessers and new arrivals Vaclav Cerny, Hamza Igamane and Nedim Bajrami to shoulder the burden.

In other Rangers news, key Ibrox figures believe a star player is nearly always played out of position under Clement.

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