Rangers suffer fresh injury blow as Daisuke Yokota becomes doubt for Celtic

Rangers have been hit by another injury concern just days before their first Old Firm meeting of the season, with Daisuke Yokota now a doubt for Sunday’s Scottish League Cup quarter-final against Celtic.

Derek McInnes is already dealing with a growing injury list, and the latest setback comes at a particularly awkward time with Rangers preparing for a demanding run of fixtures.

The Ibrox side have recovered impressively after a difficult opening to the campaign. After taking just one point from their first two Premiership matches and suffering European disappointment, Rangers have responded with three consecutive league victories.

Their latest success came on Saturday when they edged past Motherwell 1-0, moving them up to fourth place and five points behind leaders Celtic.

However, the win came at a significant cost.

Shankland and Chermiti already sidelined

Rangers were already facing a major problem in attack after Youssef Chermiti suffered a serious knee injury earlier in the season.

McInnes had been counting on captain Lawrence Shankland to shoulder much of the responsibility in Chermiti’s absence, particularly after the Scotland international made an impressive start to life at Ibrox.

Shankland has scored three goals in his first five league appearances for Rangers following his summer arrival from Hearts.

That option has now disappeared for the foreseeable future.

The striker suffered a significant hamstring tear during the victory over Motherwell, with McInnes confirming that Shankland could be unavailable for between three and four months. A further scan is being used to determine whether surgery will be required.

It leaves Rangers without their first-choice captain and one of their most important attacking players at exactly the point when the fixture schedule is becoming increasingly demanding.

Yokota adds to McInnes’ concerns

Rangers have now been handed another blow with Yokota struggling with a groin problem.

McInnes confirmed ahead of Wednesday’s meeting with St Mirren that the summer signing will miss that match and faces a race against time to be available for Sunday’s Celtic clash.

“Yokota is struggling with a groin injury,” McInnes said. “He’s getting scanned this morning, and we expect him to miss tomorrow night. Depending on the outcome of that scan we’ll see whether he misses the weekend as well.”

The Japanese attacker has not been a regular starter since joining Rangers, but he has featured whenever available and has generally been used as an impact substitute. His match record shows appearances across both domestic and European competition this season, including a 22-minute cameo against Motherwell.

His potential absence therefore removes another option from an attacking unit already weakened by the loss of Shankland and Chermiti.

Rangers face huge Celtic test

McInnes can still call upon several alternatives.

Kevin Kelsy is expected to take on a greater role following his summer arrival, while Ryan Naderi impressed by scoring the winning goal against Motherwell. Bojan Miovski also provides another experienced option in the forward line.

Nevertheless, losing Yokota would further reduce the manager’s attacking flexibility before one of the biggest games of the season.

Rangers host Celtic in the League Cup quarter-final on Sunday before travelling to Celtic Park for another Old Firm meeting in the Premiership the following weekend.

There is some positive news elsewhere on the injury front, with Tuur Rommens back running after his own problem. However, he is not expected to return in time for the League Cup meeting and is instead targeting a return to full training after Sunday’s match.

For McInnes, the immediate priority will be getting through the St Mirren game without further problems and hoping Yokota’s scan provides encouraging news.

With Shankland already ruled out and Chermiti facing a lengthy absence, another attacking injury would be the last thing Rangers need before facing Celtic twice in the space of seven days.