Derek McInnes has revealed that Ross McCrorie will be out of action for the next few weeks for Rangers due to a hamstring injury.

The summer signing did not even make the bench against Kilmarnock, and at the time, there were no mentions of any injuries.

However, it’s now been revealed that he has a hamstring concern and will be missing the next three weeks, with what is understood to be a grade 1 injury.

Derek McInnes may be concerned about the number of hamstring injuries at Rangers

McCrorie is not the first hamstring injury of the season, but this development has given rise to a worrying trend. Lawrence Shankland, Cammy Devlin and Dujon Sterling have all encountered hamstring issues this season, to varying degrees.

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Shankland’s case is the most severe, with him suffering a grade 2c tear that required surgery. The Scotland international is not expected to return until December, at the earliest, and could even be out until next year.

Devlin has been ruled out for six weeks, and while Sterling did not miss any games because of his injury, it was a hamstring issue that affected him.

Having four players suffering injuries may point to something that is happening in training that is causing strain on those muscles. It could be down to fatigue, incomplete recovery, illness, or suboptimal warm-ups and sprint exposure. Ignoring these patterns could have devastating problems in the long run for the Gers.

What may the Rangers medical staff look to do?

To address this, the medical staff must conduct a thorough data-driven audit of soft-tissue injury logs, GPS high-speed running metrics and strength test results to identify underlying patterns. They could look to implement targeted strength work by prioritising different exercises to significantly cut new and recurrent injuries.

It is imperative to manage workloads and control high-speed exposure by introducing near-maximal sprinting progressively while closely monitoring acute-to-chronic ratios. There also needs to be strict onboarding and return-to-play protocols to screen new arrivals and protect players returning from surgical procedures, especially as hamstring issues are the most susceptible to re-injury.

The board must look to ensure cross-departmental alignment between medical, strength and conditioning, and coaching staff to harmonise training intensity with player recovery capacity.