Rangers defender Filip Helander ruled out for the season
The defender will miss some crucial games at the end of the campaign
Last updated 13th Apr 2022
Rangers defender Filip Helander is out for the rest of the season with a foot injury.
The Swede had to come off in the first half of Sunday's cinch Premiership win over St Mirren in Paisley.
Boss Giovanni Van Bronckhorst is uncertain whether surgery is required but confirmed Helander - who is not in the Govan side's Europa League squad - will not be back until the summer.
"Filip's injury is not good, so we don't have him for the remainder of the season," said the Dutchman.
"He has had a history of injuries unfortunately for him and unfortunately for us to not be able to pick him.
"I don't know yet if he needs surgery but he has a foot injury, an injury he had as well in the other foot, so all I can say now is we are going to make sure he is going to be ready for pre-season next season."
While Helander would not have been available for the Europa League quarter-final second-leg clash with Braga at Ibrox on Thursday night, Rangers face Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-finals at Hampden Park on Sunday and go into the game six points behind their Old Firm rivals at the top of the Premiership with five fixtures remaining.
Van Bronckhorst revealed midfielder John Lundstram, who went off with a knock against the Buddies, will train ahead of the Braga game, which will see Rangers try to overcome a 1-0 deficit from the first leg in Portugal last week.
He said: "John is training today, so hopefully he will pass training and be available for tomorrow."
Defender Calvin Bassey and midfielder Ryan Jack missed the trip to Paisley but are back in the squad and available to play.
Van Bronckhorst is looking for a big performance from his side to get past Braga and into the semi-finals, where they will face either Atalanta or RB Leipzig, who drew 1-1 in their first-leg clash.
"We knew it was a very good opponent. We had a result which we can overcome tomorrow," added Van Bronckhorst.
"When you play an opponent you have a better view of the team and players individually. We have prepared well for tomorrow again.
"It is a big game which needs a big performance from everyone, but I am confident we can have a good result.
"Obviously the first game is different from the second game.
"We know what the task is, we know which areas we can improve, so for us it is just making sure we are playing the way we can, at our top, because you need it at this stage in Europe of course. We will be ready for tomorrow."