Rangers transfers: Derek McInnes makes 'playing with fire' admission as club chase more signings amid winless start
Rangers manager admitted his squad need 'help' in several areas; Tuur Rommens will be out for up to eight weeks and Youssef Chermiti is out long term after injuries against Hibs; Rangers host Jagiellonia Bialystok in Europa League qualifying on Thursday night, 2-1 down from the first leg.
Wednesday 12 August 2026 15:27, UK
Derek McInnes believes Rangers are "playing with fire" after being left with a shortage of options in defence.
The manager revealed Tuur Rommens will be out for up to eight weeks after suffering a groin strain in the final minutes of Sunday's Scottish Premiership defeat to Hibernian.
Rangers have also stepped up their search for a new striker, with Youssef Chermiti ruled out for a "significant period of time" with an ACL injury in the same game.
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Amid a winless start to the season, McInnes admitted his squad needs "help" as the club look to add in the full-back, winger and forward areas.
Couhaib Driouech will be the first of those arrivals, with the winger set to join for a fee of around £6.5m from PSV.
"Strengthening defensively, strengthening in wide areas was a priority. But obviously losing a player of Youssef's ability, we need to look at that one as well," the manager said ahead of Thursday's Europa League qualifier against Jagiellonia Bialystok.
"We don't have an array of options defensively. We don't have a left-footed defender in the building and we're keen to try and get that resolved as quickly as possible.
"I do think that with the numbers we've got there, we are playing with fire and we are a couple of defenders being injured.
"The good thing is we've got the ability to react to it and hopefully we can react positively."
Chermiti was injured hours after it was revealed Rangers had rejected a big-money bid for the player from Galatasaray.
But McInnes insisted they did not want to let him go this summer, adding: "The plan was for Youssef to be a big part of it for us.
"One minute you're flying high and you've got the full season ahead of you and a lot of loftier ambitions for yourself, then obviously he's had to deal with this injury.
"We are obviously looking at maybe strengthening that area of the pitch.
"The number nines are normally the most difficult ones to get.
"We will try to get the right one that would complement what we've got at the top of the pitch.
"Obviously, we're looking for a bit of pace at the top of the pitch, ideally something similar to what Youssef did."
'Not always sunshine and rainbows'
Rangers have taken just one point from their opening two Premiership games and face Polish side Jagiellonia in Europa League qualifying, trailing 2-1 from last week's first leg.
"We understand that it's not always going to be sunshine and rainbows, I got the job for a reason," the former Hearts boss added.
"We're going to be playing a European game in front of 50,000 tomorrow
"There's a few, a lot of changes indeed, and there's a lot of turning around of the squad.
"Of course, it's not been as straightforward as I hoped, and we want to enjoy the job a lot better than it is at the minute.
"It's part of being a manager. There's ups and downs, but it's about coping with the difficult times.
"It defines you, and I think it's up to us now to knuckle down, stay calm, work really swiftly in recruitment."
