Rangers confirm another blow amid struggle to catch Celtic

It would be safe to say that the Rangers are underdogs when it comes to the Premiership title race. Celtic already hold a five-point lead over Philippe Clement's side and have the psychological edge as well. Not only have the Hoops won the league three straight times but they have also been the much better team in recent Glasgow Derbies.

The first of the campaign, played at Parkhead, ended 3-0 in favour of Celtic. And while the Rangers seemed to take heart from stats like possession and shots on target, it was never really a close contest. On another day, the Hoops would have scored a few more.

It remains to be seen if Clement can inspire a comeback out of his team in the league title race this season. He did manage that last time around before it fell apart in the end.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, they have been handed another blow. Oscar Cortes, whose time on loan at Ibrox has been marked by injuries, has picked up another one. As reported by the Daily Record, Clement said about the Colombian international:

"Oscar got a bad knock in a tackle and will be out for several weeks. It was in a dual, this is part of football it was an unlucky moment. He has been really unlucky the last couple of months and this is the end of his bad luck."

Rangers confirm another blow amid struggle to catch Celtic

Cortes is on loan from Ligue 1 side Lens. He spent the previous campaign with the Ibrox club has well but so far, has only managed to make 10 appearances for them.

It remains to be seen how things transpire from here for the Rangers, but it does not seem to be getting any easier. And if Clement is not able to get his team closer to Celtic, then it is only a matter of time before he is shown the exit door, even though he signed a long-term extension not too long ago.

As for Celtic, they won't be too worried about what's going on at Ibrox. If they can keep focused and keep performing to their best level, they will have a pretty good chance at winning in every domestic competition and could potentially even make it to the next round of the Champions League.