STEVEN Gerrard today revealed that Rangers could look to bring in another right back if the knee injury James Tavernier suffered against Royal Antwerp rules him out long-term.

Tavernier, who has played in all 41 of the Ibrox club’s games during the 2020/21 campaign, limped off in the first-half of the Europa League last 32 first leg match in the Bosuilstadion last night.

The defender and his team mate Kemar Roofe, who suffered a calf strain in the opening 45 minutes of the thrilling 4-3 victory in Belgium, will undergo MRI scans this weekend.

But Gerrard this morning admitted that he fears Tavernier could be sidelined for some time and confirmed that, despite being impressed with how centre half Leon Balogun performed out of position after replacing his captain, Rangers could seek to strengthen if he is.

Nathan Patterson, who started in the Group D match against Lech Poznan in Poland back in December, is currently self-isolating after breaking Covd-19 lockdown restrictions last weekend and it is unclear what his future is at Ibrox.     

“There will be MRI scans set up either later today or first thing tomorrow,” said Gerrard. “I should have more information by Sunday.

“We'll see what the scan shows in how long he'll miss. He will obviously miss the next few for sure. I would have no issue playing Leon there. When we recruited Leon we were aware he could play centre-back or right back.

“He did that in his German days. He's an experienced player and knows how we play so he can certainly do a job there.

“We've also got Ryan Jack who has played right-back previously too. We want to keep Jacko where he is, we'd be reluctant to push him back and that's the same with Glen Kamara or Scott Arfield.

“So we do have options. They are not the ideal options so Leon is more ready for it. He's got the physical capabilities of being able to adapt to play there.

“At the same time, we might look outside and see what news comes back in terms of James' injury. We might have to look at an emergency situation there. But at the moment I'm happy to go with Leon.

Gerrard continued: “It will all depend on the outcome of James’ scan. I think in Kemar’s situation we’ve got big numbers at the top end of the pitch. 

“We have Scott Wright raring to go. He’s ready. Ryan Kent came on and played well last night, but he’s had a rest. We have Joe Aribo playing up a line and Ianis Hagi. We’ve got Greg Stewart and Jermain Defoe.

“I’m more than happy that Kemar will recover from this injury and get back in maybe two or three weeks all being well. 

“In terms of James, it’s an area of the knee where this could be days, it could be weeks but it could be longer than that.  We just have to wait and see what the outcome is. I don’t think any doctor can use their hands on this and tell you an exact date of return. We need a positive outcome in terms of the scan. 

“If it’s days and weeks, we won’t do anything. If it’s anything more severe than that, we might have to go in and look on the outside for an emergency situation.”