ANXIOUS WAIT FOR WAGHORN SCAN RESULTS
RANGERS were last ni g ht sweating over the results of a knee s can on t op s corer Martyn Waghorn.
The English striker slotted his 28th goal of the season from the penalty spot in Tuesday’s Scottish Cup fifth- round replay victory against Kilmarnock.
But he had to come off the pitch shortly afterwards and left Rugby Park on crutches. Manager Mark Warburton confirmed the former Sunderland striker (below) was undergoing tests yesterday morning after suffering a locked knee. The club are still awaiting the outcome of those medical checks.
Losing the 26-year-old forward for any part of the Championship title run-in would be a major blow for Warburton, with Waghorn having proved such a prolific goalscorer since j oining f rom Wigan l ast summer.
Last night Waghorn tweeted: ‘Thanks for the messages and support, will find out in the next couple of days how it is.’
The Ibrox club, meanwhile, are on course f or a possible title decider against promotion rivals Hibs after both clubs reached the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.
While Rangers were winning i n Kilmarnock, courtesy of Nicky Clark’s injury-time strike, Hibs earned a l ast- eight clash with Inverness Caley Thistle by beating Hearts.
The outcome of Tuesday’s results is the rescheduling of a league clash between the clubs at Easter Road on March 7. The SPFL have confirmed the sides will now meet on April 19 or 20.
If both maintain a 100-per- cent record before that date, then Rangers can win the league in Edinburgh.
Warburton last night agreed to loan Ryan Hardie to fellow Championship club Raith Rovers on a short-term 28-day emergency deal.
The 18- year- old striker has managed 10 appearances f or Rangers over the last two seasons, scoring twice.
He last featured in the 5-1 win against Cowdenbeath in t he Scottish Cup in January and was on the bench in this week’s replay at Kilmarnock.
It remains to be seen if the initial loan deal with Rovers will be extended until the end of the campaign.
Meanwhile, former Ibrox skipper Richard Gough has been elected to the board of Rangers First after coming top of a poll of members.
Gough will stand on a seven-man board — company secretary James Blair was also elected— pursuing proposals to merge Rangers First with other Light Blues organisations, including the Rangers Supporters Trust, to form a new fans’ body. Voting ended yesterday afternoon and Gough emerged top of the list with a total of 2,009 votes. Speaking last week, he said: ‘It is very important that the supporters are together. ‘I think Rangers could possibly have the strongest fans’ group in the whole of the UK if they all pulled together in the right direction.’