Glasgow Rangers continued their fine form since Michael Beale arrived at Ibrox by beating Ross County 2-1 on home turf in the Premiership on Saturday.
The English manager is unbeaten in ten matches in the Scottish top-flight so far, winning nine and drawing one, and goals from Malik Tillman and Borna Barisic continued that run.
However, there was a worrying moment in the first half of the match as central midfielder John Lundstram was forced off the pitch in the 11th minute.
Speaking after the match, the head coach confirmed that the ex-Sheffield United man has suffered an ankle issue and is not optimistic about it being a minor problem.
He said: “It destabilised us today. John is really important to our structure. He was fantastic in midweek.
“He’s gone to block a shot and he’s rolled his ankle. It looks like quite a nasty one. We will take a scan on that and update after 24 hours.”
A long-term injury lay-off could be a big blow for the Light Blues as the midfielder has been in fine form in the Premiership this season.
The Liverpudlian has averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.07 in the division, which places him seventh in the squad, and has made 2.3 tackles and interceptions per match whilst winning 44% of his individual duels.
These statistics show that the 28-year-old has been a consistently impressive figure in the heart of the Rangers team as a combative, ball-winning, midfielder.
Beale must now react to this injury blow by unleashing new signing Nicolas Raskin in the starting XI, after his deadline day arrival from Standard Liege on a permanent deal.
The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell recently described the Belgian talent as “a spider in the web capable of connecting the team and providing rhythm, but he’s also an energiser who can go box to box and fight” and his statistics back that up.
He came off the bench to play 13 minutes against Ross County and made the most of his cameo by winning 100% (4/4) of his duels, completing 86% of his passes, and making two tackles – as per Sofascore.
His impressive display as a substitute comes after the 5 foot 10 Belgian averaged a score of 7.01 in 16 matches in the Pro League for Liege during the first half of the campaign – making 3.7 tackles and interceptions whilst winning 58% of his battles.
The 21-year-old’s cameo on Saturday and his form in his homeland earlier this season show that the dynamo is a combative midfielder who can consistently deliver quality displays in the middle of the park, which is why Beale must react to Lundstram’s injury by bringing the new signing immediately into the side.
