Rangers injury news as Philippe Clement set for Tom Lawrence return boost

Rangers injury news as Philippe Clement set for Tom Lawrence return boost
Rangers and Philippe Clement are both set for a “major” injury boost with Tom Lawrence set to return to full first-team training, according to Chris Jack.

The Rangers Review journalist reported on Sunday that the former Derby County man is closing in on a return to action after picking up an injury in the Europa League win against Real Betis, having only just returned from a serious knee injury.

But the Welsh international is now set to push for a return to Clement’s matchday squad over the upcoming fixtures as he begins to step up his recovery with the rest of the squad at Auchenhowie.

Rangers have four fixtures between the beginning of November and the international break so the former Monaco manager will likely be hoping to introduce him to the matchday squad in the coming weeks.

Huge boost

The return of Lawrence will be a huge boost to both Clement and the Gers as the Belgian continues to try and find his feet in Glasgow after an impressive start to life that has seen him win two of his first three matches in all competitions.

In the few games the Welshman played between his two injuries under Michael Beale, he showed qualities that few other players in the Rangers squad possess, with an ability to unlock defences and create chances for teammates with relative ease.

The strange thing for Lawrence will be, when he does return to the squad he will be playing under his third different manager at Ibrox, even though the 29-year-old has only made eight Scottish Premiership appearances, having joined the ranks under Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

With Kieran Dowell and Jose Cifuentes returning to the match-day squad against Hearts on Sunday (29 October) Clement is closing in on having a fully fit squad at Auchenhowie. Hopefully, the injury that forced Nicolas Raskin off isn’t too serious and the new Rangers boss can get to work with a full squad at his disposal.

So far, Clement has lifted the mood throughout the blue side of Glasgow and if Lawrence can return to the side and hit the ground running, that would be yet another “major” boost for the Light Blues.