Rangers manager Steven Gerrard worried about injured Scott Arfield before Europa League mission

Steven Gerrard admits Scott Arfield is a major injury doubt for Rangers as he plots their next Europa League mission.
Rangers manager Steven GerrardRangers manager Steven Gerrard
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard

Rangers travel to Croatia next Thursday to face Osijek but Gerrard has confirmed the Light Blues may need to fly out without former Burnley man Arfield.

The 29-year-old did not join his team-mates for Tuesday’s trip to Macedonia as they overcame opening qualifying opponents FK Shkupi with a 2-0 aggregate victory.

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Arfield suffered a knee injury during the first-leg win at Ibrox and is struggling to shake the knock off as next week’s clash looms.

Gerrard is not giving up hope that the Canada international will recover in time to face Osijek but admits Arfield is facing a race against time.

“I will speak to the doctor today but as of yesterday Scott Arfield is improving slowly and we are not sure whether he will be available next week to play Osijek.

“We will have to play that one by ear and see if he improves in the coming days.”

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However, Gerrard had better news to report as he confirmed Declan John could rejoin his squad after a back injury cost the Welshman a place on the flight to Skopje in midweek.

And he also revealed that the injured trio of Lee Wallace, Graham Dorrans and Jordan Rossiter are making progress in their recoveries.

“Declan John is back in full training,” said the former Liverpool and England skipper. “He trained yesterday and had no issues with his back problem which he had.

“Besides that everyone is fine, Lee Wallace has done a bit of pitch-based stuff and Graham Dorrans is pushing each day to improve his fitness levels. Jordan Rossiter will still be a little while just yet.”

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Meanwhile Rangers chairman Dave King has been told to stop making excuses and comply with an order to make an offer to buy out the rest of the club’s shareholders.

Lord Bannatyne issued the warning at a hearing at into the Ibrox chief’s long-running dispute with the takeover panel at the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Friday morning.

King could yet face possible contempt of court proceedings after failing to comply with an order to make an £10.75million offer to the remainder of Rangers’ shareholders.

The South Africa-based businessman was ruled to have “acted in concert” with other investors when he led a boardroom coup in March 2015, a decision which triggered the takeover panel’s order.

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King has so far failed to lodge a compliant bid, claiming he needs time to set up a UK bank account so he can move funds from a family trust based in South Africa.

However, Lord Bannatyne warned he is tired of the Castlemilk-born tycoon’s excuses.

King admitted earlier this week that he expected his courtroom battle with the panel to run on.

In a statement posted on the Rangers website, he said: “At the Takeover Panel’s request, cash of approximately £11million was ring-fenced in a lawyer’s trust account to fund the offer.

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“After agreeing to the public announcement of the offer by the South Africa company, the TP changed its mind and asked that the funds be placed in an account in the UK.

“I agreed to this but explained to the TP that I have no account in the UK and would need time to open one and to get exchange control approval to transfer funds out of South Africa. The TP refused the extension of time and instituted contempt of court proceedings .”