Danny Röhl offered cautious optimism on Rangers fitness picture as the congested festive schedule looms, with potential injury returns and a timely late goal providing rare encouragement after a difficult week.
With Rangers playing every three days over the coming period, including Saturday’s match at home to Motherwell, Röhl acknowledged that squad availability could prove decisive.
The head coach confirmed that defender John Souttar has taken a significant step forward, returning to partial training after a spell on the sidelines.
“John looks good,” Röhl said.
“Yesterday he trained for the first time for part of the session.
“That’s a huge step.”
While Souttar may not be ready for immediate selection against the Steelmen, Röhl stressed that even incremental progress is valuable with the schedule tightening.
“I’m not sure if it’s enough for the weekend,” he admitted.
“But when games are coming every three days, it helps.”
The broader injury picture remains mixed. Röhl confirmed that winger Oliver Antman is making steady progress, while others will require further patience.
“Oli is making steps forward,” he said. “Nedim [Bajrami] is positive, but needs a couple more days. Derek [Cornelius] is long-term - maybe February.”
Rather than expressing frustration, Röhl framed the situation as part of managing a long campaign, emphasising that recovery timelines must be respected.
“When you play every three days, you have to see,” he said.
“But the big thing is that players are coming back into training.”
One of the brighter moments from the Hearts defeat came in the dying seconds, when Yousef Chermiti finally found the net for the first time since his strike against Kilmarnock in October.
Though the goal arrived too late to influence the result, Röhl believes it could be pivotal for the striker’s confidence.
“This goal hopefully helps him and helps us,” Röhl said.
The manager highlighted the qualities Chermiti displayed in the move - speed, physicality and composure - describing them as exactly what Rangers want to see from a forward.
“He showed speed, body, finishing,” Röhl said.
“This is what we want.”
However, Röhl was careful to temper praise with expectation.
For Chermiti, the challenge now is consistency.
“For him, it’s about consistently the performance,” he explained.
“He puts in a lot of effort, he runs for the team.
“The next step is being more dangerous.”
With Rangers short on attacking options at times this season, Chermiti’s development could prove significant - particularly if injuries and inconsistency persist elsewhere in the squad.
“If he scores more, he can help us,” Röhl added simply.