Derek McInnes has turned Rangers' injury problems into an urgent transfer story. He said the club are "playing with fire" defensively, and the warning comes as Youssef Chermiti and T. Rommens have both been ruled out. Rangers have already moved quickly on Couhaib Driouech, with a permanent switch from PSV heavily advanced.
The injuries forcing Rangers into the market
Chermiti was ruled out long term after sustaining an ACL injury against Hibernian. Rommens has been ruled out for up to eight weeks with a groin problem suffered in the same game. McInnes was blunt about the state of the squad when he said: "We don't have a left-footed defender in the building."
That shortage sits alongside Rangers' opening league return of one point from their first two Premiership games. Their recent league sequence, L D W L W, does not suggest much momentum either. McInnes also said the window gives Rangers a chance to react, and that is where the focus has landed, with a striker, a left-back and wingers all on the list.
Jagiellonia and the timing of the rebuild
The next problem is the schedule. Rangers trail Jagiellonia 2-1 from the first leg of their Europa League qualifier and return home for the second leg on 13 August at 19:00:00+00. That leaves little room for a settled defensive reshuffle before a game they still have to manage properly.
There is also the awkward fit issue at the back. McInnes has already leaned on emergency options, with Dujon Sterling asked to play a full 90 minutes recently, and a 7.2 rating in that outing suggests he handled the job well enough. It also shows how much Rangers are asking of stopgap solutions while the market remains open.
The Driouech move is the clearest sign that work is happening. The only uncertainty is how far Rangers can go before the window closes, and how quickly the new pieces can help. For now, the club are still staring at a thin defensive group and a qualifier that arrives immediately.
Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →
