Celtic and the Rangers are set to face each other twice within the space of a week later this month. The first of those games is set to be played next weekend at Ibrox in what will be the League Cup quarter-final.

The weekend after that, the two Glasgow rivals will meet again, this time at Celtic Park in Scottish Premiership competition.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, it looks like they are set to be without one of their most important players for both those games, and for a while after that as well, if initial fears end up proving to be right.

The player in question is none other than Rangers captain Lawrence Shankland. The striker appeared to have picked up a hamstring injury in their game against Motherwell this weekend.

According to The Scotsman, Derek McInnes said: “It looks quite significant, to be honest. He got a similar feeling to the hamstring injury he had at Hearts last January when he was out for three months, so obviously we don't want to speculate too much. But he says it feels similar to in the same area, so we'll get him scanned on Monday."

So, it looks like Shankland could be out for months. And that is horror news for the Rangers, who have stumbled out of the blocks in this campaign.

To be fair, they have picked up a bit of form in domestic competition lately, but overall, it has not been much to write home about if you are a Rangers fan.

In fact, they have missed out on European football altogether, failing in qualifying rounds for both the Europa League and the Conference League.

Shankland is one of the few players who had looked to be finding a bit of form lately. He had scored three goals in his previous two games.

So, this is a hammer blow for the Rangers heading into the dual Glasgow Derbies later this month, and also the several other games that the striker could end up missing.

As for Celtic, they cannot afford to spend much time thinking about who the Rangers might have available and who they might not.

At the end of the day, if Celtic put in their best performance, they have a fairly good chance of winning, whether it is away at Ibrox or at home.

But that does not mean that they do not have their issues. The Hoops have players out injured as well and they might or might not recover in time for the Glasgow Derby at Ibrox next week.

Kieran Tierney and Landon Emenalo are both nursing injuries, leaving the left-back position light on options. Up top, Kasper Hogh is out as well.

To be fair, it does look like Camilo Duran is the better option in that number 9 position. And while Haissem Hassan needs to improve his final product, the Egyptian winger has a bit about him as well. So, Hogh might struggle to get back into the starting XI, even when he is back to fitness.