Rangers goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin missed training with the rest of the group ahead of Napoli's visit to Ibrox which looks set to hand Allan McGregor a chance to stake his claim to reclaim his place between the sticks.
But skipper James Tavernier was involved in the session after Giovanni van Bronckhorst revealed he was nursing a knock after coming off at half-time in the 4-0 Champions League drubbing by Ajax. However the absence of McLaughlin, named in Steve Clarke's Scotland squad, is a mystery although he did appear to be in some discomfort during the loss in Amsterdam with McGregor sent out to warm up in the Johan Cruyff Arena at one point.
Robby McCrorie was also involved in training and is an option to step up. McLaughlin signed for the Gers back in 2020 as back-up to McGregor, and made 30 appearances over his first two seasons under Steven Gerrard as the Ibrox outfit came to the fore of Scottish football once again.
And this season, the former Hearts star has taken the reigns off of his 40-year-old counterpart as Gio van Bronckhorst looked to shake up his starting XI for the better in a bid to reclaim the Scottish Premiership title from bitter rivals Celtic.
Yet McLaughlin's poor form - especially in the derby where his howlers saw Celtic canter to a 4-0 win at Parkhead - has seen calls from players and pundits alike for McGregor's return to the fore. And with the Gers squad pictured ahead of their crunch Champions League clash against Napoli on Wednesday evening, it became apparent that McLaughlin was absent - handing McGregor the opportunity to reclaim the spot once and for all.
With Rangers having suffered the ignominy of losing 4-0 at Celtic and Ajax just days apart, McLaughlin came under much criticism - although he was admitted to the Scotland squad despite his absence from training.
The Gers are rock bottom of their group despite Wednesday's opponents battering Liverpool 4-1 in Italy last week, and will look to avoid a loss in a bid to progress ahead of Jurgen Klopp's men in the table should Ajax beat the Reds on Merseyside.
Former Celtic start Kris Commons last week branded the decision to bench McGregor as 'baffling' with McLaughlin struggling across all areas with Rangers already falling five points behind in the title race.
“Regardless of how Jon McLaughlin performed at Celtic Park, I’d have said exactly the same thing," Commons said. "The fact of the matter is that he doesn’t have the pedigree to be considered Rangers' No 1.
“Allan McGregor may have made a couple of mistakes domestically last season, but there is no way Rangers would have made it to the Europa League final without him. Even at the age of 40, he still produced saves that most keepers couldn’t dream of.
“Remember his display in the 3-0 game at Parkhead in February? Celtic could have been five or six ahead at half-time if it wasn’t for him. He’s made a career out of making saves that he has no right to get to.
“McLaughlin just doesn’t have the same aura and I’m truly astonished that he’s playing ahead of McGregor. Look, you might well question why Rangers didn’t try to sign a younger keeper in the summer but you can’t dispute that McGregor knows what it takes to fill that jersey."
