Shankland targets January return after hamstring surgery

WHAT HAPPENED
Rangers captain Lawrence Shankland has undergone surgery for a torn hamstring and has missed the club's past three matches. He told reporters he is "getting there, slowly" and that the hamstring is "healing well after the surgery." (Published 8 September)

KEY CONTEXT
Shankland was present at Rangers' recent League Cup win over Celtic but watched from the sidelines. The striker said he was "comfortable" choosing surgery when presented with the option and described this as his first surgery as a player at age 31. He added that seeing his team extend their winning run to six in all competitions has made his absence easier to bear.

RECOVERY TIMELINE
The forward said it is "hard to put a timeline on it" but that progress will be assessed around the "three-month, four-month mark." He expressed hope that he will return "well before the end [of the season]" and that, "for this hopefully, I'll be back in January time or whenever I'm back and there'll be a lot of football still to be played." He also visited a specialist and reported that "things are going in the right direction." He described his current routine as "slogging away in the gym" while watching team training and matches.