Kirk Broadfoot adds to Rangers' injury woes

The defender has been struggling with a foot problem and had tried to play through the pain barrier as injuries mount for the Scottish champions. Rangers say it is still unclear how long the 26-year-old faces in the treatment room, although he is unlikely to play again before the turn of the year.

Assistant manager Ally McCoist told www.rangers.co.uk: "Kirk has had a re-occurrence of his foot injury. We don't know exactly how bad the situation is just yet but there is undoubtedly a problem. He has been taking some pain-killers and anti-inflammatory tablets but we now have to get to the nub of the problem.

"Kirk is old school and I mean that in the nicest possible way. He will play when he is not 100 per cent and he has not been 100 per cent for a lot of the time this season. But unfortunately the situation with his foot is such that it is too much for him to play through so we will need to get it diagnosed."

Broadfoot is one of the more versatile players in the Rangers ranks, with an ability to play anywhere across the back four, and his loss will be a blow to Walter Smith, who is already without key players.

Nikica Jelavic is still recovering from a serious ankle problem, while Madjid Bougherra, Maurice Edu, Kyle Lafferty and Sasa Papac have all missed recent games through injury. It's perhaps no surprise, then, that Ibrox midfielder Lee McCulloch yesterday welcomed the cold snap which has demolished the football programme this weekend.

"The weather has probably been a bit of a blessing in disguise for us because we've still got a number of the lads out injured," said the 32-year-old. "You don't want to see any game called off but it's maybe come at a good time for us. We've been down to the bare bones in recent weeks and this lets everyone have a bit more time to recover."