Rangers face Celtic in a title six-pointer at the end of the month but injury woes have team selection.

Philippe Clement already had a huge first-team injury list to contend with heading into a busy festive period for Rangers – and he’s now got two more on his plate after confirming a double blow.

No fewer than five first-team stars had been ruled out for the medium-to-long term in recent weeks, but the game against St Johnstone in midweek, which saw Rangers go just two points behind Celtic with a game in hand in the Scottish Premiership, only added to his woes.

It means that there is a genuine midfielder crisis at Ibrox for the Belgian to deal with, and he gave an update as to team news for the Light Blues before Sunday’s clash at Motherwell – and Football Scotland takes a look at who will miss out at Fir Park, alongside the huge clash against the Hoops at Celtic Park on December 30.

The main area of concern is midfield. With no defenders out as part of the seven on the treatment table, it means that a huge batch of those in the engine room won’t be able to take part in the game, which has forced Clement’s hand with unnatural selections to make up the numbers.

Of course, the two stars missing after picking injuries up at Ibrox in midweek were John Lundstram and Kemar Roofe. The former picked up his injury over the vicious challenge that saw Diallang Jaiyesimi sent off thanks to a VAR upgrade, whilst Roofe pulled up with an injury just 15 minutes into his first start under Clement in the new era – leading to him exiting the pitch in tears.

Elsewhere, the fill-in option in central midfield, Tom Lawrence, had impressed for the Gers upon entering the double pivot with John Lundstram though the natural winger picked up a muscular injury against Hearts earlier in the month; and natural midfielders Nicolas Raskin, Jose Cifuentes and Ryan Jack are all out of action with injuries of their own.

Raskin suffered an injury in the dramatic 2-1 win over Hearts at the end of October, and whilst a quick return was envisaged, the Belgian recently admitted that his surgery ‘was not going well’. Meanwhile, Cifuentes picked up an injury AFTER his red card vs Dundee in the league to add to Rangers’ bad luck just two weeks ago, whilst Jack has been out since the November international break after being subbed off with 11 minutes to go against Norway in the final Euro 2024 clash.

And perhaps the most stinging long-term injury of all is Danilo. The Brazilian had arguably the most injury hopes of anyone who joined in the summer, but after a cheekbone injury that saw him bear a mask for a small while, he too picked up a ligament injury against Hearts, and his timeline is unclear.