Glasgow Rangers won 3-2 in the Premiership on Thursday night to give Michael Beale his first win in charge of the Ibrox club in their first competitive match since he took over as manager.
It wasn’t easy, with the Light Blues requiring goals from Ryan Jack and Alfredo Morelos in the second half to retrieve a 2-1 deficit, but it is an important three points heading into the busy festive period.
It wasn’t all good news, though, with Beale speaking to the media (via The Scotsman) after the win over Hibernian on Thursday with an update on left back Ridvan Yilmaz, who suffered a hamstring injury against Aberdeen in October.
The 42-year-old said: “It was a very, very bad hamstring. As bad as it could be. It was diagnosed at 12 weeks so we are six or seven weeks into that, and that gives you a bit of a timeline into it – if it goes perfect. It’s not ideal – Borna goes away and gets to a World Cup semi-final and well done to him and Croatia.”
It hasn’t been the best of starts at Rangers for the young Turkish defender since his £5m move from Besiktas in the summer.
He has made just two Premiership starts this season under former boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst before suffering the aforementioned injury in October. Although the initial prognosis was that Yilmaz wouldn’t be available until after the World Cup, Beale’s update is another setback, especially with the Light Blues’ lack of cover at left-back.
Borna Barisic, who usually operates in that role, is currently in Qatar representing Croatia at the World Cup. He might not be ready to jump straight back into first-team action, considering he has played just once at the tournament and could be short of match fitness when he arrives back in Glasgow.
Beale had to resort to playing young right-back Adam Devine on the left against Hibs, and the 19-year-old put in a mature display which earned him a 7.0 rating from Sofascore. However, the update about Yilmaz has come at the wrong time and will place more pressure on the Croatian to be ready for the Old Firm derby against Celtic on 2 January.
With a clash against Aberdeen coming up on Tuesday, Devine could well be trusted to slot in at left-back again, and the quicker that Rangers’ injury issues clear up, the better. This setback on Yilmaz is a huge one for him personally and for the team, given the dearth of experienced cover.