YOU will struggle to think of a season where Rangers have suffered as many long-term injuries as they’ve endured this campaign.

Saturday’s match against St Mirren saw the Ibrox club missing a mammoth amount of players.

Connor Goldson, Ben Davies, Ridvan Yilmaz, Filip Helander, John Souttar, Fashion Sakala, Tom Lawrence, Kemar Roofe, Antonio Colak and Ianis Hagi were all absent while Leon King was substituted after suffering a concussion and Glen Kamara, who was subbed at half time, has subsequently pulled out of the Finland squad with a leg problem.

Yes, the football under Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been tiresome to watch and he should still have had a good enough squad to take maximum points in Paisley as well as the recent slip-ups against St Johnstone and Livingston.

However, there is no doubt injuries have had an impact on what has been a pretty disastrous campaign thus far.

Of the 10 players that were missing at the SMiSA Stadium, there are two in particular that could've had a huge impact on recent results.

The loss of Connor Goldson has been enormous and it was felt almost immediately when he limped off against Liverpool at Ibrox with a thigh injury with the scoreline delicately posed at 1-1.

Who knows if the second-half collapse would've occurred with Goldson at the heart of a defence that crumbled like a chocolate fireguard, but prior to his injury he had seemed to have the measure of Darwin Nunez.

Liverpool aside, Goldson’s absence is one that has been felt not only on the pitch but off it. He is one of the most vocal and demanding characters within the squad and his leadership qualities have been sorely missed.

He is by no means Paulo Maldini but it cannot be underestimated how pivotal he is to this Rangers side. With Leon King effectively thrown in at the deep end and having to learn on the job, the backline has become fragile and that fragility has been exposed time and time again both domestically and in what was a car crash of a Champions League campaign.

Rangers need their vice-captain back as soon as possible and van Bronckhorst will be praying he will be available when Hibs come to Ibrox for the first competitive match after the World Cup break on December 15th. The Dutchman did sound optimistic when quizzed on the timescale of his return last month when he said: "I'm hopeful after the World Cup break we will see Connor return.”

With Filip Helander not expected back until February or March and no immediate return forecast for John Souttar, it’s imperative Rangers get their defensive anchor back to stabilise what has become a patched-up and largely ropey defence.

Another player the ibrox side have struggled to cope without is Tom Lawrence. The summer signing from Derby County hasn’t featured since the 4-0 win over Ross County at the end of August.

He limped off in said game but suffered a fresh injury in training that has seen him sidelined with no known time frame for his return.

Rangers Review: (Image: NQ)

Prior to the injury, the Welshman had become a key component of the Rangers midfield offering dynamism, energy and a goal threat that has been so badly lacking without him.

Of the seven summer additions, the arrival of the 28-year-old was the one that excited me the most having watched him at close hand starring for Derby. He had hit the ground running, scoring goals against St Johnstone and Hibs as well as contributing massively to helping the team qualify for the Champions League.

As well as creativity, he offers Rangers much-needed bite in the engine room. He isn’t afraid of a tackle and you can’t help but feel the outcome of certain matches would’ve been different had Lawrence been strutting his stuff in the middle of the park.

It remains to be seen if he and Goldson will be back in the reckoning by the time Lee Johnson brings his Hibernian team to Ibrox but of all the players currently sidelined, those are the two Rangers need back as soon as possible if they wish to alter the narrative of the season.

This piece is an extract from today’s Rangers Insider newsletter, which is emailed out at 5pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Rangers Review team.

To receive our full, free newsletter including this analysis straight to your email inbox, click here and tick the box for Top Stories.

READ MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR: