Kevin van Veen handed Rangers injury boost as Graham Alexander hails resilient Motherwell talisman

Optimistic Graham Alexander says Kevin van Veen suffered "no major damage" to his shoulder against Aberdeen.

And provided he doesn't suffer another setback between now and Sunday, the Dutchman has been given the all-clear to face Rangers.

Van Veen landed awkwardly in the first half against Aberdeen but fought through to the finish line despite his visible discomfort.

He had a big part to play in Mark O'Hara's equaliser and Alexander has confirmed there is no "major damage."

However the Motherwell boss did admit the club will have to be careful with the Dutchman as he said: "He's had a scan and there's no major damage but he's had an injection just to settle it down because it's quite painful for him.

"It's a case of doing nothing to antagonise it for two days after the injection and then we will see how it is."

The former Scunthorpe forward hit a post and forced a good save before his shot led to O'Hara equalising from the rebound to earn a 1-1 draw.

"It was brilliant from Kev," Alexander said. "I asked him at half-time if he was fit and he said 'yes', and that was it.

"We asked him to be honest with us if he couldn't contribute to the team then we've got good players in the squad to come on. But he didn't want to come off.

"I kept a real close eye on him and he was a thorn in the side for Aberdeen. Their players, certainly their centre-halves, were very wary of him and it created space for other players, and he obviously had a part to play in the goal.

"Fair play to him, that's the sort of commitment we need from all our players to win games."

Alexander had to watch the game from the stand as a result of his recent red card against Hibernian and will serve the final game of his touchline ban at Ibrox.

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