Michael Beale has revealed Kemar Roofe will start pre-season with his Rangers team-mates with the hitman 'back out running'.
The former Leeds and Anderlecht man has a huge fan in the shape of the Light Blues boss but injuries have been an issue since he took over from Giovanni van Bronckhorst with the 42-year-old not really able to call on the services of the frontman. The same goes for Tom Lawrence as he continues to step up his recovery.
Beale expects the midfielder to be around three or four weeks behind Roofe in his road to fitness and recovery. Both will be like new signings for the Ibrox faithful should they get back to their best and avoid any further injuries or niggles. Roofe has been out in Qatar lately working with specialists and his boss has called on him to show he can be the player they know he is when he makes that long-awaited return.
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Injuries have been a main problem and Beale hopes the summer break and pre-season will help ease those issues within the group.
He said: “He [Roofe] would certainly be a bonus. We decided for him to go and have the hip operation that has been troubling him for a long period of time now to see if that solves the issues he has been having.
“He is back out running now so he will start pre-season with the team.
“Him and Tom, I’ve not really been able to use either of them. I have not even seen Tom in training.
“Tom will probably be three or four weeks behind Kemar. That will be nice for Kemar because last year he started pre-season and had an issue within two days. So let’s see where we are at.
“He was our top goal scorer in the year we won the league but it is important that he shows when he comes back that he can be the player we know.
“I do feel for him. I had a long conversation with Fil Helander before the final game of the season. I was here when we signed him and he is a heck of a player.
“He has missed out on a lot of international games and big games for Rangers as well. It’s not easy with a family away from home.
“Kemar has got a young family that were originally based in England. They are here now and they are here for their dad to play football.
“Kemar is a really strong-willed guy, a really tough exterior, but you have got to make sure that he is in a good place.
“I think being out on the pitch and being pain-free is a big step for him so let’s see how pre-season goes.”
Rangers had a huge share of injuries this season but Beale concedes there was little his medical team at the club could have done to prevent any of them.
He added: “Our biggest disappointment is that we have had some big injuries that no one could help – the Helander one, the thing with Kem's shoulder, Tom Lawrence. You can’t help those.
“Everyone saw what happened to Goldson in the game against Liverpool, it was a freak thing. Those things you would like to think won’t happen again, they are one-off things.
“In terms of soft-tissue injuries, we are always looking at that closely and that’s an area where there has been a lot of change around the players.
“This summer everyone will get a decent break and the international players will get another two or three weeks after that. We are hoping that pre-season will help clear that up.
“I think it’s been frustrating for Rangers in general, the fans and everyone around the club. You look at this season and the amount of football Connor Goldson has missed.
“Steven Davis, Filip Helander, Roofe, Lawrence. Ridvan Yilmaz was out for most of the season, Rabbi Matondo out for three months. Malik Tillman and Ryan Kent have missed periods.
“When you look at it as a football club, we have not had the strength of our squad this year. Our points total [92 points], I don’t know how many times Rangers have finished with this points total in the last 15/20 years. I think it’s just when we won the league.”
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