Rangers rue long Beasley absence

Rangers FC winger DaMarcus Beasley faces several months on the sidelines after suffering knee ligament damage in Tuesday's 3-2 UEFA Champions League defeat at VfB Stuttgart.

Painful collision
The 25-year-old limped off early in the second half following a collision with Stuttgart goalkeeper Raphael Schäfer and will return home to the United States for surgery. Rangers manager Walter Smith admits he does not know when the former PSV Eindhoven player will be fit again. "He has to have an operation, which he'll go to America for," said Smith.

Long absence
"We'll have a better idea after that operation but it will be months before he's back. It's a bigger blow for him in the sense that no player wants to be out for what could be a considerable length of time. He was settling in and starting to do well. He has a bit of pace in the wider areas, so we'll miss him."

Lyon decider
Beasley was making his fifth UEFA Champions League appearance of the season during the reverse in Stuttgart, which left second-placed Rangers level on points with the chasing Olympique Lyonnais in Group E. The Glasgow club need one point from their final game at home to Lyon to qualify for the knockout rounds behind pool winners FC Barcelona. Beasley, who was with Manchester City FC last term, has also played ten Scottish Premier League matches for Rangers, scoring two goals.