Rangers suffer major injury blow as Connor Goldson ruled out for rest of the season along with two teammates

Key defender among trio who will play no further part in title run-in

Rangers defender Connor Goldson has been ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury in training.

The centre-back has torn his medial ligament and will play no further part in the campaign as Rangers look to complete a historic treble by overhauling Celtic in the title race before facing them in the Old Firm Scottish Cup final on May 25.

Goldson has been an unused substitute in each of Rangers last two matches but has been a mainstay in defence since joining from Brighton in 2018 and his asbence is an undoubted blow to Phillipe Clement’s side ahead of the run-in.

Rangers defender Connor Goldson has suffered a season-ending knee injury. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

The Rangers manager confirmed the “bad news” in his Friday press conference ahead of Sunday’s clash with Kilmarnock at Ibrox. 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.

“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.”

Clement revealed that Goldson still wants to play a part in the run-in, adding: “It is, of course, a blow. He has played 48 games this 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.”

Goldson joins Danilo and Oscar Cortes in having their season ended prematurely after Clement also confirmed that the Brazilian striker and on-loan Lens winger will not return before the end of the campaign.

Abdallah Sima and Rabbi Matondo are also currently sidelined but the Rangers manager hopes both will feature again this season. "Hopefully we see Sima and Matondo back before the end of the season if the recovery continues,” Clement said.

He also offered updates on Ridvan Yilmaz and Ryan Jack after both returned to training this week. “We need to see tomorrow. Ridvan maybe, Ryan not yet. He is too far away from that. He will need more time than Ridvan.”