Derek McInnes has never been short of a selection headache since he walked into Ibrox, and this week’s build-up to the second Old Firm meeting of the season in barely seven days has thrown up two more issues for the Rangers boss to work through before Sunday’s trip to Parkhead. With his side sitting on the back of a statement 3-0 win over Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final at Ibrox last weekend, McInnes now has to try to keep the momentum going in a Scottish Premiership fixture that carries a very different weight, and he has used his media duties this week to confirm that two more names have been added to a treatment room that was already carrying some significant absentees.
The headline news from McInnes’ briefing centred on the fitness of Tuur Rommens and Kosta Nedeljkovic, two players who represent very different situations but who both now carry genuine doubt over their involvement at Parkhead. Rommens has been out since early August, when he picked up a groin strain during the 2-1 defeat to Hibs at Ibrox, and while he has been back out on the grass running in recent days, McInnes was careful not to overstate his availability. According to reporting this week, the plan for the Belgian left-back is for him to return to full training only a day or two after the Celtic fixture, which points towards Sunday coming just too soon for him. It is the kind of update that will frustrate supporters who have watched James Penrice deputise capably in Rommens’ absence but who would love to see the natural left-back option available for a game of this magnitude. McInnes has previously stated that the intention is for Rommens to get a full week of training under his belt before he is considered for selection again, and with that timeline pointing towards the following international window rather than this weekend, the expectation inside Ibrox is that patience will be required a little longer.
The second, and perhaps more freshly landed, concern surrounds Kosta Nedeljkovic. The Serbian right-back has been a near ever-present for Rangers since his move to Ibrox, and it is precisely that consistency which makes this latest development sting a little more. McInnes revealed that Nedeljkovic picked up what was described as a little foot injury during training, the result of a couple of accidental knocks that left him sore enough to warrant precautionary scans. The good news, relatively speaking, is that those scans did not reveal anything structurally significant, but McInnes was honest enough to admit that the issue remains uncomfortable whenever the area takes contact, and that is the kind of thing that can flare up again in a match as combative as an Old Firm derby. Rangers’ medical staff will be assessing him closely in the build-up to kick-off, but a defender managing pain when challenged for the ball is never an ideal profile heading into a fixture where physical duels will be a constant feature from the first whistle.
Those two doubts arrive on top of a treatment room that Rangers fans have become uncomfortably familiar with over the past month. Lawrence Shankland’s hamstring tear remains the most significant blow of the lot. The Rangers captain suffered the injury in the win over Motherwell, and it was later confirmed as a grade 2c tear, related to a similar issue Shankland picked up while at Hearts last season. McInnes did not shy away from how serious it looked in the immediate aftermath, admitting the injury appeared “quite significant” once initial assessments were made, and subsequent reporting has suggested Shankland could be facing anywhere between three and four months on the sidelines depending on whether surgery is required. That timeline effectively rules the striker out of both Old Firm derbies this month, the Premier Sports Cup semi-final should Rangers progress, and a chunk of Scotland’s Nations League fixtures too. Losing a captain who had just started to find scoring form, netting in consecutive matches before the injury struck, is the kind of setback that would derail plenty of teams, but Rangers have at least shown over the past fortnight that they have alternatives capable of stepping up.
Youssef Chermiti remains a long-term absentee too, still working his way back from the ACL injury he suffered last month, a blow that had already forced McInnes to rework his forward options before Shankland’s own injury compounded the situation further. And then there is Daisuke Yokota, whose summer arrival at Ibrox was meant to add pace and directness to the wide areas but who instead finds himself sidelined by a groin problem that eventually required surgery. Yokota is not expected back until at least November, meaning he will miss both Old Firm league meetings, the cup ties against Celtic, and a significant stretch of European fixtures besides. Between Shankland, Chermiti and Yokota alone, McInnes has lost three attacking options who would all have had realistic claims on a starting shirt this season, and it is a testament to the depth added over the summer window that Rangers have still been able to produce the kind of dominant derby performance seen at Ibrox seven days ago.
That depth has been built around the goalscoring form of Bojan Miovski, who has stepped into the spotlight left by Shankland’s absence with real conviction. Miovski’s stoppage-time winner against St Mirren in midweek extended Rangers’ winning run and underlined why McInnes has repeated, almost as a mantra, that his squad has good options up front even without their captain. Ryan Naderi has also impressed when called upon, replacing Shankland inside seven minutes of the Motherwell game and playing a role in that eventual victory, while deadline-day arrival Kevin Kelsy continues to be integrated gradually. Kelsy’s early performances have been a mixed bag by his own admission and that of the watching press, with his introduction against St Mirren midweek failing to fully convince, but McInnes has stressed that the £9million striker represents exactly the kind of squad depth signing that becomes vital when injuries strike as heavily as they have this season. The competition for that central striking berth, between Miovski, Naderi, Kelsy and the versatile Min-su Kim, gives McInnes options even in adversity, and it is a decision he will have to make again this weekend with Sunday’s derby demanding a nuanced approach rather than simply picking the in-form man.
The context of this fixture makes McInnes’ selection dilemmas even more pressing than usual. Rangers head into Parkhead full of confidence after that 3-0 demolition of Celtic in the cup, a result that gave McInnes his first taste of Old Firm bragging rights since taking permanent charge and which represented one of the most convincing derby wins either side of the city has produced in the better part of a decade. That victory has understandably lifted the mood around Ibrox, but McInnes and his players have been careful this week not to get carried away, aware that cup form and league form can diverge wildly in this fixture, especially away from home in front of a sold-out, one-sided Parkhead crowd with away fans locked out under the current arrangements for this fixture. There is also a scheduling wrinkle that could work in Rangers’ favour: while McInnes’ side have enjoyed a full week’s rest since the cup win, Celtic have had to negotiate a Europa League fixture against Ferencvaros on the Thursday night before Sunday’s derby, meaning Martin O’Neill’s side will, in theory, take to the pitch with less recovery time in their legs. Whether that translates into a tactical or physical advantage for Rangers remains to be seen, but McInnes has been quick to acknowledge that his side cannot rely on fatigue alone to carry them to another positive result against their fiercest rivals.
There is also a psychological dimension to this Sunday’s fixture that goes beyond simple squad news. McInnes’ last visit to Parkhead in a league context ended in painful fashion, with Celtic securing the title on the final day of last season during his time in charge of Hearts, memories he has openly admitted are not among his fondest of the venue. Overturning that personal history at Parkhead, in only his second full month as Rangers manager, would represent another significant marker in a managerial reign that has already delivered one landmark derby win. Ex-players and pundits have been quick to point out the scale of the challenge regardless of last weekend’s result, with the widely held view being that Celtic, still smarting from that cup humbling, are unlikely to set up in the same passive manner that allowed Rangers to dominate so freely at Ibrox. Suggestions have circulated that O’Neill could shift towards a two-striker system in an attempt to give more support to Kasper Hogh and disrupt the shape that worked so effectively for Rangers last time out, and if that adjustment materialises, McInnes will need his own tactical response ready, doubts over Rommens and Nedeljkovic notwithstanding.
For Rangers supporters, the frustration with the current injury list is understandable given how well things have started to click on the pitch. A club record-equalling run of form domestically, allied to progress in Europe, has created genuine belief that this Rangers side under McInnes can end the barren run against Celtic that has characterised recent Old Firm history. Yet football rarely allows momentum to build without complication, and the timing of Rommens’ and Nedeljkovic’s fitness scares, arriving in the same week as a derby of this magnitude, is a reminder of how thin the margins can be even for a team playing with real confidence. Both players represent important pieces of McInnes’ defensive setup: Rommens for his attacking threat down the left and his understanding of the system that has helped Rangers control games, and Nedeljkovic for the reliability and physical presence he has shown on the opposite flank since establishing himself as first choice. Losing either, let alone both, for a fixture as demanding as an away Old Firm derby would represent a further stress test for a Rangers squad that has already shown remarkable resilience in absorbing the losses of Shankland, Chermiti and Yokota.
McInnes will use the final training sessions before Sunday to make his final calls, and it would not be a surprise if both Rommens and Nedeljkovic are given every opportunity to prove their fitness right up until team news is confirmed. The manager has shown throughout his short tenure at Ibrox that he prefers to build a bit of mystery around his team selection where possible, rarely tipping his hand fully in pre-match media duties, and Sunday’s derby, given its magnitude, is unlikely to be any different. What is clear is that regardless of who is available, McInnes has instilled a level of belief and organisation in this Rangers squad that allowed them to dismantle Celtic so comprehensively just seven days ago, and replicating even a fraction of that intensity at a sold-out, hostile Parkhead would represent another significant statement in what is shaping up to be a fascinating first full season in interim-turned-permanent charge for the former Aberdeen and Kilmarnock boss.
Rangers’ away form at Parkhead in recent years has been a source of considerable pain for the club’s supporters, but there have been flickers of hope in derbies gone by that suggest this fixture is never quite as predictable as recent history might indicate. Whatever team McInnes ultimately selects, with or without his two fresh doubts, the belief inside Ibrox this week is that this Rangers side finally has the tools, the depth, and crucially the manager, to turn last weekend’s cup statement into a genuine sea change in this fixture. Sunday at noon will provide the answer, and every Rangers supporter will be hoping that McInnes’ luck with the treatment room, so cruelly tested over the past month, finally starts to turn in his favour just when it matters most.
