New Glasgow Rangers manager Michael Beale has barely been in the job for a full week and he has already received some positive injury news.

What's the latest?

According to sources close to Vital Rangers, Beale revealed that Connor Goldson, Kemar Roofe and Ben Davies are all close to returning to first-team action.

The recent pictures of training at Auchenhowie show Roofe taking part in the training sessions under Beale and his coaches, which points to a hopeful return before Christmas.

The 42-year-old also discussed the club’s recent injury crisis, explaining that the club will be stronger when everyone returns:

“It’s fair to say we’ve got some key injuries at the moment, we need to get them back fit because they’ll certainly make us stronger. We don’t want to use that as an excuse right now but it will certainly make us stronger over time when they get back and then we’ll look at that.

“In the coming month we will have Ianis Hagi and Tom Lawrence as well and all of a sudden we will have a much stronger squad and a much stronger Rangers.”

Fantastic news

This update is exactly what the Ibrox faithful needed to hear, and this is both fantastic news and a massive boost for the manager.

Having Goldson back sooner rather than later - whose average Sofascore match rating of 7.24 ranks him as Gers' joint fourth-best performer in the league - will be imperative if Beale wants to secure some early success at the club.

Indeed, the new boos will know just how big a boost Goldson's return would be for the rest of the squad - having coached him for three and half years during his spell as first-team coach under Steven Gerrard.

Having summer arrival Davies - whose own average Sofascore match rating of 6.97 ranks him as the Light Blues' ninth-best player in the top flight - back quickly to partner Goldson at the heart of the Ibrox defence will also be crucial, as Giovanni van Bronckhorst had to shuffle his pack numerous times due to the injury issues at the club, which didn’t exactly help with stability.

Finally, the return of Roofe - who has played just nine minutes of first-team football so far this season - will also be a very welcome boost for Beale, as, despite the 29-year-old unlikely to be considered a first-choice centre-forward this term, his 16 goals over 36 appearances in all competitions last season would come in very useful from the bench.

Indeed, if Beale can get these key players off the treatment table and onto the pitch in the coming weeks, the second half of the season might be more fruitful than the early months - with Gers currently trailing the league leaders by nine points.