Kris Commons has issued a four-word warning that 'time is running out' for loan signing Aaron Ramsey to make his mark at Rangers. 

The lowdown

Rangers pulled off what The Athletic's Jordan Campbell called their biggest signing since the mid-1990s on transfer deadline day last month, bringing in the 31-year-old on loan from Serie A giants Juventus.

However, the Welshman's involvement has been limited up to this point, with his only start coming against Annan Athletic in the Scottish Cup fifth round. He has made two substitute appearances in the Premiership - each lasting around 15 minutes - and also briefly featured off the bench in last Thursday's 4-2 Europa League win over Borussia Dortmund.

On Sunday, he missed out on the matchday squad for the trip to Dundee United, having picked up a knock in training. Rangers went on to draw the game 1-1, losing further ground to Celtic in the Premiership title race as Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men endured another setback in the league.

The latest

Writing in his column for The Scottish Daily Mail on Monday (via Glasgow Times), Commons warned Rangers that the signing of Ramsey may not have the desired effect.

He stated: "Time is running out for him to make any sort of appreciable impact at Ibrox. He was signed to make the difference in the title race, to help Rangers unlock stuffy defences with his passing and vision.

"Yesterday was exactly the kind of game where they'd have hoped he could help, but he wasn't fit enough to play any part."

The verdict

The expectation is that Ramsey recovers from his 'minor' knock in time for the second leg against Dortmund at Ibrox (via Football Scotland).

Rangers still have 11 league games to go, and if they can hang on to their two-goal advantage on Thursday, they will reach the Europa League round of 16. Van Bronckhorst's side have a Scottish Cup quarter-final against Dundee in forthcoming weeks.

Therefore, Ramsey still has a large enough window to make an 'appreciable impact' at Ibrox, but the problem is that you simply can't be confident of an injury-free run-in for the Welshman given his alarming track record in that respect.

In other news, this Rangers trio struggled against Dundee United