Gerrard waiting for updates on injured Ibrox trio ahead of pivotal run of fixtures

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard may have a clearer timescale on the availability of three of his injured players this week as he assesses his selection options for a pivotal run of January fixtures in the title race.

K em arRoofe suffered a thigh problem during last

Saturday’s Old Firm game at Ibrox, leaving the English forward unable to continue after half-time as the Premiership leaders beat Celtic 1-0 to move 19 points clear of their great rivals at the top of the table.

The extent of the damage sustained by Ro ofe is b eing assessed by R angers’ medical staff while updates on the progress of midfield duo Ryan Jack and Scott Arfield are also expected this week. Jack has now missed R angers’ last 12 games with a knee issue which has troubled him for the last couple of years and which flared up again when he had to be replaced during the 4-0 win over Aberdeen at Ibrox on November 22.

The 28- year-old Scotland international had been expected to return to Rangers’ squad in time for the Boxing Day fixture against Hibs but experienced a fresh setback in his recover y. This Sunday’s visit to face his former club Aberdeen at Pittodrie is also likely to be too soon for Jack.

Arfieldsuffe re dan ankle injury shortly after coming on as a substitute in the 1- 0 win over Hibs and the results of an initial scan suggested he would be sidelined for at least three weeks. However, Rangers are waiting for a second opinion on the damage amid hopes Arfield, who has been in fine form this season with seven goals in 31 appearances so far, could make a quicker return that first anticipated.

Gerrard is still reasonably well resourced in the midfield department where he can call upon Steven Davis, Glen Kamara, Joe Aribo and Bongani Zungu. But he will remain anxious for Arfield and Jack to become available again as soon as possible as Rangers look to press home their advantage in the Premiership.

They face a potentially tricky schedule in the rest of January with three of their four league games on the road. After the trip to Aberdeen, they have games at Motherwell and Hibs either side of a home game against Ross County.