Lawrence Shankland in Hearts injury flashback as 'significant' Rangers blow puts Tynecastle reunion in doubt
The former Hearts striker has suffered injury woe at Rangers.
Lawrence Shankland is a doubt to return to Tynecastle next month with Rangers after the former Hearts captain picked up an injury similar to his most recent in Gorgie.
The Scotland international trudged off after eight minutes during his side’s 1-0 Premiership win over Motherwell on Saturday. He joined Rangers in the summer alongside ex-Hearts manager Derek McInnes and teammate Cammy Devlin, but after two goals midweek against Falkirk, has suffered an injury setback.
Shankland missed months of action in the second half of last season with a hamstring injury, picking it up on January 17th against Falkirk, and returning against Dundee during March 21st’s Gorgie meeting. With Rangers coming to Hearts on October 28th, McInnes has confirmed the new blow picked up by the now Rangers captain looks similar to the one he suffered last term, pushing his status for the Jambos clash into doubtful territory pending further updates.
Lawrence Shankland injury update
McInnes told Sportsound: “It looks quite significant to be honest. Similar injury we think to what he had at Hearts last year and he was out for a long period of time then. So, I think we'll get the scan on Monday and see how it looks then rather than speculate, but I'll only say that it does look quite significant as if he could be out for a period of time.
"So, disappointing from Lawrence's point of view and from our point of view because obviously he was leading the line and scored a few goals in the last couple of games. We don't know why, maybe gone from astro to grass and things like that as he's not been on the best surfaces. So, all these things you start to really consider now. But it's disappointing nonetheless, but there was more positives than negatives from the day, but that was a negative.”
The former Hearts boss, who signed forward Kevin Kelsy on deadline day and handed him a debut against Motherwell, added in his post-match press conference: “Lawrence has a similar feeling to the hamstring injury he had at Hearts last January, when he was out for three months. He says it feels similar and in the same area, so we'll get him scanned on Monday.
What did Lawrence Shankland say about injury at Rangers?
“Lawrence says he felt fine going into the game and there was nothing he did in it he was aware of. He just felt it pull up. It's a shame for the boy because he was in good form, getting himself moving and enjoying some of that attacking threat we've had over the last few games.
"It's a pity for Lawrence that it looks as if the next period he's going to be sitting on the sidelines. If somebody had said to me walking in the door that Youssef Chermiti and Shankland were going to be out with significant injuries, you'd have felt the weight of that. Getting Kevin was such a good bit of business and the club deserves a lot of credit for that.”
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