Rangers to be without Connor Goldson for the rest of the season after defender picked up knee injury

Rangers will be without Connor Goldson for the rest of the season after the defender picked up a knee injury in training.

The 31-year-old, who has been at Ibrox for six years and played a key role in their 2021 title win and run to the Europa League final a year later, was involved in a tangle with a teammate and required a scan which confirmed a medial ligament problem.

The vice-captain has been on the bench for the last two Rangers matches with Leon Balogun preferred to partner John Souttar.

Philippe Clement revealed on Friday that he will be without the services of a player he describes as “one of the leaders” for the final four Premiership fixtures, but will remain in the dressing room to support the rest of the team.

He will also miss the Scottish Cup final against Celtic at Hampden on May 25.

Rangers are three points behind leaders Celtic and ahead of the visit of Kilmarnock on Sunday, Clement revealed some “bad news”.

The Belgian boss said: “There was a duel on Wednesday at training and a player fell on Connor’s knee and he hurt his knee badly.

“It is a big blow, he has played 48 games this season, he is one of the leaders.

“He said to me, he wanted to be in the dressing room to support the boys.

“He tried to continue but couldn’t. He had a scan and he has a tear in his medial ligament so he will be out for the rest of the season.

“He has played a lot of good games, he is one of the leaders in the team and he does that role really well. And that was also one of the first things he said to me, that he wanted to be in the dressing room for the next couple of games although he cannot play, to be there for the boys and support them.

“So that is also a positive thing from his side, the commitment he has to this group and this club.

“He can help people in their motivation and calmness or whatever they need and he is part of this group.

“It is a good sign that someone wants to be there for the team but, of course, it is unlucky to lose him now.

“It has been the story of this season. Players get injuries but it is up to others to step up.

“He will be back for pre-season and he is happy about that because last year he missed almost all pre-season training, so it was quite a miracle that he played so many games and he was fit for so long. This injury was real bad luck.”

Left-back Ridvan Yilmaz and midfielder Ryan Jack returned to training this week but only the former has any chance of making it against Killie.

Clement said: “We need to see tomorrow. Ridvan maybe, Ryan not yet. He is too far away from that. He will need more time than Ridvan.”

Clement is confident he has enough leaders in his squad to get them through the rest of the season in Goldson’s absence.

He said: “We have enough leaders, I am clear on that.

“You also become a leader by getting experience in these moments. I feel a lot of hunger in the team to keep on chasing.”

Rangers could find themselves six points adrift at the top by the time they take to the field on Sunday, with Celtic playing Hearts 24 hours earlier.

But Clement they will keep their focus on the job at hand.

He said: “We will keep on focusing on ourselves and the next three points.

“Kilmarnock has a good record this season against the Old Firm, every game will be tight in the post-split games with the best teams facing each other.”