The 21-year-old missed five games prior to the World Cup break and was once again absent for Thursday night’s 3-2 win over Hibs at Ibrox in the Premiership. With Borna Barisic part of the Croatia side which reached the World Cup semi-final, Adam Devine was required to deputise at left-back and impressed.

Yilmaz has been limited to just five starts since joining the club fro £5million from Turkish giants Besiktas. One of those starts was against Aberdeen when he picked up his injury and was substituted after just five minutes. Beale confirmed it was “as bad as it could be” but did praise Devine for his role in the victory.

"It was a very, very bad hamstring,” he said. “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.”

“We’ve got high hopes for him (Devine) but it wasn’t easy tonight, when the team is struggling, to put a second half performance in like that. I asked him to play higher up and play with more energy. But everyone watching that can be proud of a young Scottish boy. It’s early days but as far as tonight goes, ‘well done son’.”

Meanwhile Rangers have been linked with a £500,000 move for Angolan midfielder Benedito Mambuene Mukendi, known as beni. The 20-year-old currently plays in the Portuguese second tier with Trofense and with his contract set to expire at the end of the season has attracted interest from around Europe, including Braga.

According to the Scottish Sun, the Ibrox side are considering putting in a January bid to try and win the race for his signature. The player has made 40 appearances for his club since joining from Petro de Luanda in his homeland.

Rangers star out for another 5-6 weeks as club linked with £500k January swoop for midfielder

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