McInnes says Rangers are ‘playing with fire’ over lack of defensive options

Derek McInnes believes Rangers risk “playing with fire” after being left with a shortage of options in defence ahead of the summer transfer window slamming shut. 

McInnes has endured a difficult start to life in Glasgow, failing to win any of his three matches across all competitions (D1 L2) while also being hit with two huge injury blows. 

The Rangers boss confirmed on Wednesday that left-back Tuur Rommens faces up to eight weeks on the sidelines after sustaining a groin strain in their 2-1 defeat to Hibernian. 

Youssef Chermiti, who was of interest to Galatasaray, is also ruled out for a “significant period of time” after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in the same game. 

Rangers have made nine additions so far this summer, two of which are defenders: Olwethu Makhanya from the Philadelphia Union and Ross McCrorie from Bristol City. 

However, McInnes admitted his squad needs help, with the club seeking reinforcements in the full-back, winger and forward areas amid Couhaib Driouech’s proposed move from PSV edging closer to completion. 

“Strengthening defensively, strengthening in wide areas was a priority. But obviously losing a player of Youssef’s ability, we need to look at that one as well,” McInnes conceded. 

“We don’t have an array of options defensively. We don’t have a left-footed defender in the building, and we’re keen to try and get that resolved as quickly as possible.

“I do think that with the numbers we’ve got there, we are playing with fire, and there are a couple of defenders being injured.

“The good thing is we’ve got the ability to react to it, and hopefully we can react positively.”

Rangers host Jagiellonia Bialystok in the second leg of their Europa League third-round qualifier and will need to come back from a 2-1 deficit they suffered in Poland. 

Northern Irish champions Larne or Iberia Tbilisi of Georgia await the winners in the Europa League play-offs. 

McInnes acknowledged the pressure he was under during the early part of his Rangers tenure, but he is confident of overcoming his rocky start quickly. 

“We understand that there’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows. I got the job for a reason,” the former Hearts boss added.

“We’re going to be playing a European game in front of 50,000 tomorrow. There’s a few, a lot of changes indeed, and there’s a lot of turning around of the squad.

“Of course, it’s not been as straightforward as I hoped, and we want to enjoy the job a lot better than it is at the minute.

“It’s part of being a manager. There’s ups and downs, but it’s about coping with difficult times.

“It defines you, and I think it’s up to us now to knuckle down, stay calm, work really swiftly in recruitment.”