Rangers beat Motherwell 1-0, but the bigger issue from the weekend was L. Shankland's hamstring worry. He appeared to suffer the injury in Saturday's win, and there is now a real chance he could be facing a spell on the sidelines just as Rangers settle into a steadier run of results.

Martin O'Neill said Yang Hyun-Jun would be out for a "significant period", with Celtic set to lose him for four games while he is away at the Asian Cup with South Korea. That is a different sort of problem from Shankland's, but it lands just as awkwardly for a team that has already leaned on him this season.

Rangers' injury worry around Shankland

The concern is not just that Shankland picked up a knock. It is that his value to Rangers is easy to see when you look at what he has done before. He averaged a goal every 86.5 minutes under McInnes at Hearts last season, which is why any absence would matter.

Rangers' 1-0 win over Motherwell kept the momentum intact, with three wins in their last five across all competitions. That makes the timing awkward rather than disastrous, but it still leaves a hole in the squad if Shankland is unavailable.

Celtic's four-game loss and the pressure elsewhere

Yang's absence hits Celtic in a different way. He has already scored two league goals this season and played 377 league minutes, so the four-game Asian Cup absence removes a player who has become part of the regular attacking picture rather quickly.

The wider pressure point sits with the managers outside the Old Firm. Hibernian lost 2-1 at St Johnstone, Aberdeen were booed off after a goalless draw with Kilmarnock, and Kilmarnock have scored four goals and conceded 14 in the Premiership. Sky Sports also reported Neil McCann saying "they have let the fans down", while Stephen Robinson's position was framed around the question, "How much time does he have to turn things around?" David Gray, too, has come under more heat after the St Johnstone defeat.

The immediate next step for both clubs is squad management, not headline chasing. Celtic will have to get through four games without Yang, while Rangers wait on the extent of Shankland's hamstring issue and prepare for the next league fixture.

Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →