Former Rangers manager Michael Beale has singled out a Gers ace who has been the "player of the season" in Scotland.
Rangers injury news
The Scottish Premiership title race between the Gers and rivals Celtic is set to go right to the wire this season, as the two adversaries lock horns in a thrilling battle. That includes the pair meeting at Ibrox in a top-of-the-table clash next weekend, which could prove key come May.
Philippe Clement isn't having a huge amount of good fortune in the injury department currently, with a number of important figures currently unavailable, making it hard to shuffle his pack and keep his team fresh as the campaign goes on.
Tom Lawrence and Todd Cantwell are two influential figures who have been unavailable at times, with the latter making a comeback this weekend against Hibs.
Meanwhile, Abdallah Sima has been a significant miss leading the line, with the Senegalese winger not featuring since the winter break. He had previously scored 10 goals in 15 league starts this season after arriving on loan from Brighton.
Those three are far from the only players who have been sidelined this term, with Kieran Dowell, Oscar Cortes and Danilo all unable to affect matters currently, among others.
Beale says "player of the season" key in title race
Speaking on Sky Sports [via Glasgow World], Beale said that Sima could hold the key in the title race once he returns from injury, considering how influential he was before his absence, and claimed that but for the performances of Jack Butland, who has conceded just 18 times this term, the winger has been the league's best player.
"I think the player of the season in Scotland outside of Jack Butland was probably Abdallah Sima who's been missing, so if Abdallah can come back now and provide some goals and power in the final third, I would expect Rangers to go on and win the league. But it will come down to the Old Firms and obviously there's a big one coming up in just over a week's time."Sima's absence has clearly hurt Rangers this season, even though the loan signing of Fabio Silva has helped alleviate the issue a little, with his aforementioned numbers in front of goal showing what a consistent supplier of goals he has been.Captain James Tavernier clearly thinks a lot of his colleague, too, waxing lyrical over him earlier in the campaign: "[Sima] has been a real attacking threat for us this season. He’s got electric pace and can finish in difficult areas."
James Tavernier 18 Cyriel Dessers 15 Abdallah Sima 14 Danilo 6 Todd Cantwell 6 The fact that Sima is now back in training is an enormous boost for Rangers, and if he manages to feature at all against Celtic next Saturday it could be significant, considering what a difference-maker he can be in the final third.His firepower is going to be needed when those crunch matches arrive in the remaining weeks of the season, with tight matches just requiring one finish to decide a game.smallRelatedClub green light offer to sign Rangers star Clement is trying to keepThe Ibrox side could be handed a big blow in their efforts to keep a senior player.
