Rangers handed late boost ahead of St Mirren clash, Van Bronckhorst will be buzzing - opinion

Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been handed a late boost ahead of their Premiership meeting this afternoon.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference (via Daily Record), St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson revealed that all three of Scott Tanser, Greg Kiltie and Ryan Flynn once again look likely to miss out today, as none of the trio have recovered from their respective injuries.

Regarding the current state of his squad, the Buddies manager said: “We’ll have the same bodies as we did last week. We’ve got a really small squad, only 17 in it with three injuries. We don’t think Greg Kiltie or Scott Tanser will make it. Ryan Flynn will likely be back the week after.”

While Rangers should – on paper, at least – have enough to get past the 10th-placed St Mirren without too many issues, the news that Tanser, Kiltie and Flynn will once again be unavailable for selection this weekend will nevertheless have left Giovanni van Bronckhorst buzzing.

The continued absence of Tanser will come as a particular boost to the Light Blues, as the left-back has been one of St Mirren’s standout performers so far this season.

Indeed, over his 26 Premiership appearances this term, the 27-year-old has scored two goals, registered four assists and created eight big chances for his team-mates, along with making 1.5 key passes, one interception, 1.2 tackles and 1.9 clearances and winning 5.3 duels per game.

These returns have seen the £360k-rated defender average a very impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.03, ranking him as the Buddies’ third-best player in the Scottish top flight.

As such, it is clear to see that the unavailability of Tanser will provide Rangers’ chances of leaving the SMISA Stadium with all three points this afternoon