IANIS HAGI won't play for Romania against North Macedonia tonight after returning a positive Covid test.

The Rangers star was confirmed to have tested positive for the virus after complaining of headaches while the squad was in Skopje ahead of the fixture yesterday.

As a result the playmaker has been forced to self-isolate which is sure to have left Rangers boss Steven Gerrard sweating over his players availability.

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Under tough Covid rules in North Macedonia Hagi must self-isolate for ten days at least, with the possibilty of facing 20 days in isolation.

Those who test positive with symptoms are ordered to isolate for 20 days in North Macedonia, with asymptomatic positice cases requiring the ten day isolation period.

Hagi will also be required to test negative for the virus from a PCR test before he can leave North Macedonia to return to Scotland.

The news could mean Hagi is ruled out of Rangers matches due to the positive test result.

If he was forced to undertake the full 20 days of isolation then it would be the week beginning September 27 before he could rejoin the Gers squad.

It would be a major blow for Gerrard and Rangers with matches against St Johnstone, Lyon, Motherwell, Livingston and Dundee within that period.

It remains to be discovered whether Hagi is deemed to have been symptomatic when he returned the positive test.

One small boost for Hagi's return to Scotland, whenever that comes, is that due to his status as an elite athlete he would not have to be double vaccinated to avoid isolation.

A Romanian FA statement yesterday read: "Today, around noon, Ianis Hagi complained of slight headaches in the Skopje national team's camp.

"He performed a quick test under the coordination of the medical staff of the national team and the result is positive.

"The Romanian squad immediately went into isolation. To date, on the occasion of this action of the national team, Ianis had performed 5 COVID tests, all with a negative result.

"Thus, they performed a PCR test, the result will arrive by game time.

"Without showing symptoms, Hagi's colleagues, Răzvan Marin, Alexandru Cicâldău and Dragoș Nedelcu also performed a quick test. The result is negative for all three.

"However, the three will not be able to participate in the official training tonight, as according to the rules of Northern Macedonia, a negative result of a PCR test is necessary in such a situation."