Sports injuries expert Ben Dinnery says that Glasgow Rangers supporters will be 'frustrated' with the latest news on John Souttar.
The Lowdown: Surgery
As shared by Sky Sports, Souttar has now been ruled out of action until after the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, after he had surgery on his ankle.
The central defender suffered an ankle injury when in action for Hearts last season, which kept him out for a number of weeks, although he did return before the end of the campaign ahead of his move to Giovanni van Bronckhorst's team in the summer.
The Latest: Dinnery reacts
Speaking to Football Insider, Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in both injury and data analysis, claims that it was a 'gamble' for the Ibrox outfit to sign Souttar, due to his injury problems at Hearts, and thinks that supporters will be 'frustrated' by his latest setback:
“All things considered, it’s a gamble because you have to look at the pros and cons when recruiting a player.
“As a supporter, you might be frustrated because you want him in the first team. The club will be fully aware of that.
“There might have been a differentiating issue in terms of the timeline, but it’s not always about short-termism that supporters want. Clubs are investing more over the long term.
“You make a judgement call and hope that it pans out and works okay. Unfortunately, up until this point, it appears that it has backfired.
“There are no guarantees when it comes to injury, but you have to remain optimistic that things pan out as you’d like them too.”
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The Verdict: Injuries piling up
The injuries seem to be piling up for the Gers, with Tom Lawrence also ruled out until after the World Cup.
They join the likes of Jon McLaughlin, Filip Helander, Nnamdi Ofoborh and Ianis Hagi on the treatment table, in what is turning out to be a worrying situation for Van Bronckhorst.
As for Souttar, he has only managed to play 67 minutes of football for the Light Blues so far this season, and supporters will no doubt be frustrated that they have not been able to see their new signing in action at all over the last few weeks.