'They'll miss him' - Pundit claims Rangers ace out 4 months, as ban lands on top after 'Hellish' incident

Oscar Cortes looks like he could be out of Rangers action for as long as for months, according to Derek Ferguson.

The ex-Ibrox midfielder discussed the availability of Light Blues attackers on Open Goal on 10 October, after Ianis Hagi was banned for two games for his sending off against St. Johnstone on 6 October, admitting the Romanian’s challenge did look “hellish” upon VAR review and deserved a red card.

But with Rabbi Matondo also hurt he suggested the suspension won’t keep Hagi out of the side for long because the extent of Cortes’ latest injury appears to be major, meaning Philippe Clement needs options.

The Belgian admitted after the 2-0 win at Ibrox that Cortes would now be out “long-term” compared to others such as Danilo and Ridvan Yilmaz but hadn’t specified a timeframe [Rangers Review, 6 October].

Ferguson said (1h 5m): “They need [Hagi] back anyway because Cortes is going to be out for a period of time. Matondo. Cortes looks as if he’s a four-month job as well. So they’ll miss him.”

Rangers obligated to buy Oscar Cortes from Lens

Even by the recent standards at Ibrox the injury curse around Cortes, 20, seems to be extreme as this will be the third major set back he has suffered since first arriving on loan in January.

He has only made 10 total appearances for the club so far, managing seven last season in the four weeks he was fit before he was ruled out for the rest of the campaign.

He had only been brought in at the time to fill the gap left by Abdallah Sima’s own long-term absence, but the club had seen enough in that short audition to agree to a second loan in the summer with an obligation to buy believed to be worth around £4million [Daily Record, 1 June].

But he was hurt in the season opening draw at Hearts on 3 August and managed just two more appearances upon his return in mid-September, so if Ferguson is right that could be four months it will be just 10 outings in a year and a hefty fee still attached.

Rangers have arguably brought this upon themselves by committing to the obligation after Cortes was already hit with injury at Ibrox last season.

But even so the injury luck, particularly with wide attackers this term, has been incredibly bad, with Matondo ruled out for as long as three months [Football Scotland, 5 September] almost immediately after the club decided to hold onto him in the face of widespread interest at the end of the transfer window [Football Scotland, 30 August].

Add in Hagi being sent off on his first game back in the first-team for over a year following the conclusion of negotiations to end his exile in the B Team [Daily Record, 1 October] and the blows keep on coming.

In other Rangers news, a Clement update has emerged in the wake of the club being hit by yet another resignation.

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The post 'They'll miss him' - Pundit claims Rangers ace out 4 months, as ban lands on top after 'Hellish' incident appeared first on Ibrox News.