Rangers have been rocked by the absence of Connor Goldson for their crunch Europa League clash against Sparta Prague.
The defender didn’t join Steven Gerrard’s squad when they flew out to the Czech Republic for their second Group A clash.
And with Filip Helander crocked it is the worst possible position for Gerrard to suffer another blow.
Goldson missed the recent Scottish Premiership victory over St Johnstone due to Covid but returned to face Lyon in their defeat to the French side at Ibrox.
With the 28-year-old and Helander out - the two first choice centre backs - then Gerrard will likely pair Leon Balogun and Calvin Bassey in the heart of defence.
Bassey often played in a central role as a kid at Leicester City and slotted in there against Falkirk in the Premier Sports Cup last season.
Manager Gerrard hinted in his pre-match press conference that he could have some significant absences.
He said: "This Covid’s not gone away.
"I’m still waiting on the results of certain tests that were done on Tuesday, waiting for them to be negative to see who I’ve got available.
"I just find it really hard to find a settled team at the moment.
"It’s been said that we’re not full of life at the moment.
“But the team is changing a lot, whether that be an injury we have picked up or from the first day of the season when we reported back, we’ve had numerous Covid situations.
“So it’s been hard to pick the same team and try to find your rhythm and your cohesion and give people time to play together.
“It’s been really difficult to pick a settled team and I think that’s going to be the case moving forward.
“The amount of games is one issue where you are naturally going to pick up a knock or two, but the Covid situation is still there.
"Just because outside life is improving and is changing back to normality, inside we are still testing a couple of times a week.
“At any given moment you can be thrown a curveball and we’ve noticed this season there's been a lot more curveballs thrown.”
Goldson has been criticised for some of his performances this season after a rock-solid campaign last season.
He has so far failed to agree a contract extension at the Light Blues despite being free to sign a pre-contract in January.
Many fans believe that has contributed to a drop in his standards from last season but missing the trip to Prague is still a massive blow.
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