Glasgow Rangers star Kieran Dowell is ruled out of tonight’s Champions League qualifier vs PSV Eindhoven, and Michael Beale has also delivered a fitness update on the rest of the squad.
What's the latest on Kieran Dowell's injury?
At Ibrox last week, Rangers secured a 2-2 draw in the European first leg against Peter Bosz’ side and they will now be hoping to secure a victory when they take on the Dutch outfit once again tonight at the Philips Stadium, with kick-off being at 8pm UK time.
The Light Blues’ attacking midfielder was absent during Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Ross County, and when the boss was asked after the game what caused the 25-year-old’s absence, he claimed that he’d sustained a knock but failed to specify what the actual problem was.
Since putting pen to paper on a free transfer from Norwich City last month, England’s former youth international has already made six appearances for the Scottish Premiership club, but if the following update is to be believed, he won’t be involved in the action this evening, meaning that the rest of the team will have to try and get the win over the line without him.
How long is Kieran Dowell out for?
Speaking during his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Beale confirmed that Dowell will be missing from Rangers’ matchday squad vs PSV and revealed that it’s his knee which is the area that he’s sustained the injury in. As quoted by the club’s official website, he said:
“The only [player] that is missing is Kieran Dowell, who has still got this slight problem with his knee. It's not a big problem, this game is just too soon for him. The team selection won’t be too far from last week, there won’t be too many surprises. Across our squad we do have a variety of options in the final third and we need to be better with the ball this week."
According to journalist Josh Bunting, Dowell was “unplayable” during his time at Wigan and he’s already shown plenty of promising signs following his arrival at Rangers, so the fact that he won’t be available for selection this evening will come as a huge blow to Beale.
The Ormskirk-born talent currently ranks in the 97th percentile for blocks and is averaging 1.5 interceptions per league match, so is extremely strong in the defensive aspect of his game, but having already hit the back of the net once, he’s clearly capable of making a positive impact at both ends of the pitch which is why he was brought to the club in the first place.
Dowell, who is naturally left-footed, is also a versatile operator having been deployed in seven different positions since the start of his career, including four roles in the midfield and even three in the final third, so he’s a great option for the manager to have at his disposal, though that won’t be the case tonight, therefore, the player will be hoping to stage his comeback as soon as possible.