Rangers boss says Nikica Jelavic could return in December
Rangers manager Walter Smith says that striker Nikica Jelavic could return to action as soon as December.
The 25-year-old has been out of action since the start of October after suffering from an ankle injury in a challenge with Heart of Midlothian midfielder Ian Black in a 2-1 victory over the Jambos in the Scottish Premier League.
As a result, the Croatia international was expected to be out of action for several months after undergoing an operation on his ankle ligaments.
However, Jelavic — who had been developing a fruitful partnership upfront with Kenny Miller before the injury — is progressing faster than expected and may be back in contention for a place in the team before the end of the year.
Smith told reporters that: "He had the operation on the ankle ligaments in Croatia and has been doing the rehabilitation with the specialist who did the operation.
"They are pleased with everything that's happening and he has worked hard. We had been hopeful of getting him back by the start of January and they are optimistic it might be a few weeks earlier than that."
Jelavic is a relatively new arrival at Ibrox, having moved from Austrian side Rapid Vienna over the summer for a fee of four million pounds.
Weiss suffering from foot problem
Meanwhile, Smith revealed that Vladimir Weiss — who is on loan from English Premier League side Manchester City — is still suffering from a complaint with his foot despite playing in the 3-1 victory over St Mirren on Sunday, 7 November.
The winger played for the first half of the game before he was replaced by forward Kyle Lafferty.
Smith said that: "There's something wrong with his heel. He trained on Saturday and felt it was okay. He's suffering from it so hopefully in the next couple of games we'll get it fixed. It's causing him some trouble just now."
Tags: