Kemar Roofe and Tom Lawrence of the Rangers have undergone surgery and are now out for the remainder of the season.
Roofe has only made six substitute appearances across all competitions due to ailments that have plagued him all season.
The 30-year-old striker has scored twice for the team in 2023, including one in his final outing for the team in a 3-0 away victory against Livingston on February 18. However, after having hip surgery, he will now be sidelined for an extended period of time.
Lawrence, on the other hand, hasn’t played for Rangers since the end of August since he ruptured his Achilles tendon, and he now needs a second procedure to fix the issue.
The Welsh winger enjoyed a strong start to the 2022–23 season, tallying three goals and dishing out two assists in nine games across all competitions. However, he and Roofe are now aiming for a comeback at the start of the following season.
Prior to Rangers’ Scottish Cup quarterfinal match against Raith Rovers on Sunday, head coach Michael Beale announced the news to press on Friday, as reported by Planet Sport: “Unfortunately, Tom Lawrence underwent a small procedure, which means he will return during the preseason.
“Tom is a player I really wanted to work with. I first saw him play against my Liverpool (junior team) when he was at Manchester United, and I’ve been following his career since then.
He is an international player who performed admirably to open the season before developing an Achilles ailment.
He made an effort to return. He was working out independently but felt some pain, so he went to visit a specialist. It wasn’t fixed the way he wanted, so he had a small procedure, and he will be ready for pre-season by the time it’s over.
“Kemar Roofe has had a minor operation, but he will also be back for preseason,” I’ll add. With few league games remaining, it was decided that it would be best to get these lads ready for the upcoming season. They will undoubtedly be key players for us come pre-season.
Ridvan Yilmaz, John Souttar, and Leon King are all available for selection after recovering from injuries, according to Beale, although
The Rangers boss has insisted that he will name his “strongest team” against Raith Rovers on Sunday as the Gers bid to move one step closer to retaining the Scottish Cup. “It will be the strongest team possible for the game,” Beale added. “One or two bumps and bruises but nothing major. The boys have had a couple of days’ recovery so we will train tomorrow and make our mind up on the team. “Ridvan Yilmaz, John Souttar and Leon King are all available for selection as well so it is a difficult decision to cut from 21 to 18 for the weekend. It will be the strongest team. It is a quarter-final, it is important.
Tom Lawrence
“The team set a standard in the last couple of games. As long as there are no issues, it will be close to those two teams who started and the other boys will have to fight in training to earn their minutes and if the game allows, we will give people minutes but this is a quarter-final so we are giving it the respect it deserves. “We won the trophy last year so there has been an extra focus probably since pre-season. It is something that we want to retain. It is the last game of the season as well. “We want to get to Hampden, firstly for a semi-final and then push on to the final and ultimately our aim is to win the .”
Kemar Roofe
Rangers’ only defeat in their last 19 matches was at Hampden Park when they lost 2-1 to rivals Celtic in the Scottish League Cup final at the end of last month, while Raith – who sit seventh in the Championship table – saw their 14-game unbeaten run come to an end at the hands of Partick Thistle last weekend, losing 3-0 away from home.
