Edu to miss Man Utd game.

[Gazza_8 233]

I thought the Man Utd game was this midweek. Thankfully it's not.

 

WALTER SMITH will use Rangers' first free midweek in more than a month to piece his crumbling team back together before their European clash with Manchester United.

 

Gers stayed top of the SPL table with a 2-0 win over Aberdeen at Ibrox yesterday.

 

But they were down to the bare bones with EIGHT crocked top-team stars leaving Smith's bench a man short.

 

The Rangers boss revealed midfielder Maurice Edu will sit out the Champions League match with United on November 24 due to a knee injury.

 

In-form Kyle Lafferty also missed yesterday's win after a problem in training while Stevie Naismith and Kirk Broadfoot were left nursing knocks at the end of 90 minutes.

 

And that makes forward Naismith a doubt for Scotland's friendly with the Faroe Islands on Tuesday night.

 

Smith admitted: "We have quite a few injuries, not just to our recognised first-team squad but our younger group as well.

 

"Kyle got injured in training and the squad was depleted but we responded well.

 

"We have a week's break and I hope some of the injuries clear up.

 

"Hopefully things will start to fall into place but sometimes when injuries mount up it becomes a problem.

 

"Naismith got a nasty knock on his shoulder and Broadfoot took a kick on the foot that has been causing him bother for a few weeks. But the physios and the doc are looking at them.

 

"Edu's scan was actually OK but he has a bit of soreness and we're looking at him being out for a couple of weeks, maybe three. He will be a miss for a few games."

 

Kenny Miller and Vladimir Weiss scored first-half goals to see off the Dons and keep Gers at the top, although Miller then missed a spot-kick before the break to keep the floodgates from opening.

 

Smith said: "We started well and played well. If we had converted the penalty and made it 3-0 it would maybe have opened things up for us."