Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst admits disappointment at Aaron Ramsey's injury woes

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst admits he wanted more appearances from Aaron Ramsey after the on-loan Juventus midfielder was ruled out of the Premiership match against St Johnstone.

The Ibrox club pulled off a major coup when they signed Ramsey on loan from the Italian giants for the remainder of the season and hoped he would be a key player as they pursued success in Scotland and Europe.

That hasn’t transpired, with Ramsey only playing in four of the eight games Rangers have played since his signing. The Wales international only started in the win over Annan Athletic in the Scottish Cup, and has come off the bench in three others, playing only 94 minutes in total.

After confirming that Ramsey would miss Wednesday’s Premiership trip to McDiarmid Park, along with Steven Davis, Amad Diallo, Ryan Jack and Filip Helander, Van Bronckhorst said that the Welshman was more disappointed than anyone at being unavailable.

“I don’t have a clear timeline [for his return],” the Rangers boss said. “Hopefully he’ll be able to join the rest of the team very soon.

“He’s already working on the pitch again so hopefully in the near future we can welcome him back in the squad. Of course we wanted Aaron to be involved more than he is now but the most disappointed is Aaron himself.”

Injuries and absences have come after a busy fixture schedule and with only ten games to go in the league, as well as games in Europe and the Scottish Cup, the management of the squad is paramount but Van Bronckhorst says resting players isn’t something he’ll do just for the sake of it.

“You definitely look at how players will feel but you have to play the strongest team possible in every game we play from now on,” he said. “Of course, physically it’s a big factor but you cannot rest players. We have players feeling ok and feeling fresh, we have to start with our strongest team possible.

“It’s football. You almost never get the ideal scenario as a coach. We always have things that will happen every week due to circumstances but it’s just the case that you make sure that you handle the situations well for the players, for us as a team in general, and just move forward.

“Hopefully Aaron, as well as the other players who can’t be with the team tomorrow, can be involved soon.”