An early piece of team news has emerged ahead of Glasgow Rangers' clash with St Mirren in the Premiership this afternoon...

What's the latest?

Light Blues manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst has confirmed that Ryan Jack will play a part in the game after missing the last eight matches with a calf injury.

He told reporters, via the club's official Twitter account:

"It's been a busy period for everyone involved in football at the moment. You are seeing a lot of teams at the highest level struggling with injuries and the packed schedule ahead of the World Cup."

The head coach then added:

"Ryan Jack will be involved in the squad tomorrow, it should also be beneficial for him to get minutes with Scotland."

Big boost

This piece of early team news is a big boost for van Bronckhorst heading into the trip to St Mirren in the final Premiership match before the World Cup break.

Coincidentally, Jack's last appearance for Rangers in the Scottish top-flight was the 4-0 win over today's opponents at Ibrox back at the start of October.

He dominated the Saints on that occasion as he put in a fantastic performance in the middle of the park, earning a SofaScore rating of 7.6. The Scotland international won four of his five individual duels, making three tackles and one clearance, whilst also completing 91% of his attempted passes and creating two chances for his teammates, also per SofaScore.

Jack's last outing for the Gers in any competition was the 7-1 loss to Liverpool in the Champions League when he registered an assist for Scott Arfield's ultimately irrelevant opening goal.

He has proven himself to be an instrumental player for the Light Blues when he has been available for selection in recent years. Last season, the midfield maestro averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.92 across nine appearances in the Europa League - making 3.2 tackles and interceptions per game and completing 84% of his passes on the club's way to the final of the competition.

However, injury issues have been his downfall in the last two seasons as he missed 69 competitive games between the start of 2020/21 and the end of 2021/22. Jack needs to remain consistent in terms of his availability in order for the manager to benefit from his evident quality on the pitch more often.

The Scottish metronome has proven, with his aforementioned statistics, that he has the ability to put in impressive performances in the Premiership and in Europe, and that is why having him in contention to feature against St Mirren is a big boost for van Bronckhorst.