Rangers, Celtic and Hearts are locked in one of the fiercest Scottish Premiership title races in decades, but Danny Rohl now faces a host of injury problems ahead of Sunday’s trip to Falkirk.
Post-split fixtures confirmed for Rangers, Hearts & Celtic
The Gers will be in Falkirk twice in the space of a month as they face them again in their final game of the season on May 16.
Celtic host Hearts at Parkhead on the final day of what could be a title-elimination campaign depending on results elsewhere.
|
Rangers’ post-split plans |
The day |
|---|---|
|
Motherwell (H) |
April 26 |
|
Hearts (A) |
May 4 |
|
Celtic (A) |
May 10 |
|
Hibernian (H) |
May 13 |
|
Falkirk (A) |
May 16 |
With six games remaining, leaders Hearts are now one point behind the Light Blues after dropping points last week, with Celtic two points behind.
Rangers players are suffering from Naderi’s injury
Rohl revealed that Ryan Naderi suffered a “bad” injury that casts doubt on his role in the Rangers’ title run, while he sweated over the fitness of Tuur Rommens, Andreas Skov Olsen and Mike Moore.
The 22-year-old striker, signed from Hansa Rostock in the winter transfer window, was brought off at half-time after scoring his first league goal in a 4-2 win over Dundee United at Ibrox last Saturday.
Speaking before the Falkirk game, Rohl said about Naderi: “Well, we checked him to see if he is serious, we don’t know when he will come back.
“I think that, in general, it’s the type of injury, the muscle injury, that you have to look at week by week.
“We will have to re-examine him in two weeks and then we will know more about how long.”
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He has been good in front of goal this season.
Asked if there was any hope that Naderi could return before the end of the season, the former Sheffield Wednesday coach said: “Hope is always there but I think we have to wait two weeks and see more, how the treatment goes, all those things.
“It’s never fun when you lose players in your team, sometimes in football it happens and, because of this, we need everyone in the team, as I said many times.
“I think Ryan has had a positive impact since he arrived, not only the goals. He worked hard on this first goal but also a lot of work coming off the ball, facing the ball, a lot of runs in the team.
“But it’s football, we have to look for a new solution. We have many players who are there. They are ready for this and, yes, we have to fight.”
Rivals Hearts are also dealing with the loss of one of their key players, with a thigh injury threatening to end Tomas Magnusson’s season, but any points dropped by Rangers in Stirlingshire could give both the Jambos and Celtic a huge advantage ahead of the break.
