Rangers goalkeeper Butland to miss rest of the season after internal bleeding in leg

Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland is ruled out of Thursday’s Old Firm clash with Celtic at the Ibrox Stadium after suffering internal bleeding in his leg, the Scottish Premiership club said.

The 31-year-old former England international required hospital treatment but has since been released and is recovering, Rangers added.

“I’ve suffered a significant bleed to my leg that needed hospital attention, thankfully that’s now under control and will lead to a full recovery hopefully sooner rather than later,” Butland posted on his Instagram story on Wednesday.

Needless to say it’s come at an awful time and I was fully focussed on helping us as a club. The most important thing now is supporting the lads and focussing on getting fit again as soon as possible.”

The club have been seeking a new goalkeeper for some time now with Allan McGregor’s retirement expected while Jon McLaughlin has been kept as a bit-part player under Michael Beale. The manager has been hunting a new number one and it’s the on loan Manchester United goalie who has emerged as the priority. Butland is now “on the brink” of a summer switch to Ibrox from his parent club Crystal Palace with his deal up at the end of the season.

Football Scotland has taken a look at his timeline and success stories so far as well as areas he’ll likely want to improve on when he arrives in Glasgow this summer.

Birmingham City

The goalie began his career as a youngster at the Blues and developed himself into a starter even back as a trainee.

His first season was slow and he was allowed to head out on loan to Cheltenham where he did feature prominently and made 24 appearances in League Two. That set him up for his second season as a pro when he returned to Brum and played 46 times in the English Championship to become number one.