After three goals in his previous two games – decisive contributions in wins at Aberdeen and Falkirk – prior to suffering his hamstring injury against Motherwell, Shankland’s absence comes at a particularly bad time for him and for Rangers.
With fellow striker Youssef Chermiti expected to be out for a lengthy period after suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage against Hibernian last month, McInnes is now left without his two leading strikers.
“Having [Shankland] and Youssef out, two guys that guarantee you goals at Premiership level, there’s no doubt it’s a blow for us,” McInnes said.
“Their disappointment’s other people’s opportunity as you’ve seen even from Saturday – Ryan getting his goal, Kevin [Kelsy] getting introduced, we’ve got Bojan Miovbski, who knows his way about the Scottish Premiership, so it’s not all doom and gloom on that front but it is disappointing news.”
Rangers were good value for their win over Motherwell, but with the number of chances they created it should have been more comfortable.
“If Lawrence Shankland was on the pitch throughout, he’d be walking away with a couple of goals,” former Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday said on BBC Sportsound.
Naderi scored the only goal of the game on Saturday, capitalising on a blunder from Motherwell goalkeeper Alex Paulsen to roll the ball into an empty net.
The big striker is a willing worker but can he deliver the sort of scoring numbers Shankland has consistently produced in the Premiership?
Naderi scored three goals in his 11 games last season after joining Rangers in January, two of which came in the 8-0 Scottish Cup rout of lower-league Queen’s Park.
The German has scored three in eight appearances this term – one fewer than Shankland’s four goals in 10 games.
Since joining Rangers, he has averaged a goal every 189 minutes. That figure is 146 minutes for Shankland, stretching back to the start of last season for Hearts.
The only striker on Rangers’ books whose stats compare favourably with Shankland is Miovski, who averages a goal every 148 minutes. However, the former Aberdeen favourite has found it difficult to get a consistent run in the side. Big-money signing Kelsy will come into the mix following his arrival from Portland Timbers.
The Venezuelan had a golden opportunity to announce himself on his debut against Motherwell but showed little composure as his shot clipped the crossbar on its way out.
Of course, it is far too early to rush to judgement on Kelsy’s ability to fill the Shankland void, but 13 goals in his past 46 games – averaging one every 190 minutes – would suggest the Ibrox club have not signed an out-and-out scorer.
“It’s not an ideal scenario,” former Rangers goalkeeper Cammy Bell said on the BBC’s Scottish Football Podcast.
“They would have wanted to allow a little bit of time for Kelsy to find his feet in Scottish football and at Rangers. He’s not going to get that now.
“You’d think Kelsy is going to be the one that will have to step up to the plate and score important goals because you can’t rely on Shankland for now.”
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