Lawrence Shankland: Rangers captain & Scotland forward out for up to four months and may need surgery

Rangers captain Lawrence Shankland will be out for up to four months because of a hamstring tear and the forward may need surgery.

Speaking before Wednesday’s Scottish Premiership visit of St Mirren, manager Derek McInnes confirmed his 31-year-old skipper had suffered a recurrence of the injury when both were at Hearts last season.

Shankland has scored four goals in 10 Rangers appearances but came off early in Saturday’s 1-0 home league win over Motherwell. His replacement, Ryan Naderi, scored the game’s only goal.

“He’s had a tear, it’s a 2cm tear in his hamstring so similar, very similar to the one he did previously at Hearts in January,” McInnes said.

“He’s actually in London now, he’s getting an ultrasound scan, a follow-up scan which is just to determine with the specialist whether he has surgery or whether we just let that heal naturally, as it did the last time.

“If he has the surgery then he might be an extra three or four weeks but if he has the surgery then it lessens the risk of maybe it happening again. All those these things will be confirmed probably in the next 48 hours or so.

“Unfortunately, for us and Lawrence, it’s a significant amount of time out and we just need to support him, as we do with all our injured players.”

As well as Premiership and League Cup fixtures, the striker will be unavailable for Scotland’s Nations League matches from the end of September through mid-November.

New head coach Sebastien Pocognoli’s side meet North Macedonia, Slovenia and Switzerland home and away this autumn. Shankland has scored seven goals in 22 international appearances, including three earlier this year.

After St Mirren, Rangers face Celtic at home in the League Cup then the same opponent away in the league before the first of this season’s international breaks.

The Ibrox side have five games scheduled for October, three in November and six in December.

In early January, Shankland came off in extra time of Hearts’ Scottish Cup defeat by Falkirk, who won the tie on penalties. The striker returned in mid-March.

Winger Daisuke Yokota, who came on as a substitute against Motherwell, will also miss Rangers’ match with St Mirren because of a groin injury but left-back Tuur Rommens is back in training and could return later this month.