Rangers have been hit with a big injury blow with centre-back Nikola Katic suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury, according to The Athletic

The Croatian defender has been handed regular game time by Gers boss Steven Gerrard, managing 29 appearances last season, but the manager is now looking at being without him for a lengthy period.

 



Katic suffered the cruciate knee ligament injury in training over the course of the week and then Rangers assessed the damage before deciding what course of action to take.

He is due to go under the knife to fix the problem and will hope the procedure will be successful.
 


The defender's injury leaves Gerrard with Connor Goldson, Filip Helander and George Edmundson as his senior centre-backs.



It remains to be seen if he will now dip into the transfer market in a bid to replace Katic; Rangers could have until the start of October to make signings.

Gerrard could opt to promote Lewis Mayo from the academy, but with Rangers facing a big season domestically, it is unclear what route the manager will go down.
 

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Katic will be aiming to be back from his injury as soon as possible, but he could face many months on the sidelines.

He has made a total of 59 appearances for the Scottish giants since joining the club in 2018 and scored in the Gers' win over rivals Celtic in December last year.