Rangers seek striker & are 'playing with fire' in defence

Youssef Chermiti faces an extended period on the sidelines [SNS] Rangers are being "proactive" in seeking a new striker after Youssef Chermiti was ruled out long term, says manager Derek McInnes, who warned defensive injuries have left the club "playing with fire". Chermiti, 22, sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury in Saturday's defeat by Hibernian, shortly after McInnes confirmed a bid had been rejected for the Portugal Under-21 cap. Galatasaray have been linked with the former Everton player. A specialist in London will be consulted, with a possible operation next week. Chermiti is joined on the sidelines by left-back Tuur Rommens, who has been ruled out for up to eight weeks with a groin problem suffered in the same game. McInnes, whose side will attempt to overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit at home to Jagiellonia Bialystok in their Europa League third-round qualifier on Thursday, said of Chermiti: "Obviously, really disappointing for ourselves. "Selfishly, he's a big part of what we wanted to do this season and he's obviously a talented boy. "For Youssef himself, obviously he's very young. It'll be difficult for him to accept and understand what's happened to him. "The only saving grace from our point of view as a club is the fact it's happened in a transfer window and we've got the opportunity to react to that. "The plan was for Youssef to stay in. Obviously it was a big number that was reportedly bid for him. I don't know exactly what the figure was. Obviously the club rejected that. It's neither here nor there now, to be honest. It's done. "We are obviously looking at maybe strengthening that area of the pitch. We're trying to be quite proactive with that and seeing what is available. Number nines are normally the most difficult ones to get." Rangers chairman expects up to five more signings Visit our Rangers page for all the latest news, analysis and fan views Get Rangers news notifications in the BBC Sport app 'Defensive and wide areas the priority' In terms of other recruitment, McInnes is keen to add a left-back following Rommens' injury and says the club are also "trying to bring wingers in". He said: "Strengthening defensively and in wide areas was the priority. "We don't have a left-footed defender in the building. We're keen to try and get that resolved as quickly as possible. "With the numbers we've got there, we are kind of playing with fire. Defensively, it's always been a bit of a concern. I always thought we were short of numbers there. "We all know what we need but acting really swiftly would help matters. "We're trying to bring wingers in. It's in the hands of the recruitment team to try and get that over the line. Nothing's been finalised with anything yet." Brentford left-back Jayden Meghoma, 20, has been linked with a second loan spell at Rangers after spending last season at Ibrox, while PSV Eindhoven winger Couhaib Driouech has been heavily touted for a permanent move. When asked about Driouech, McInnes said: "We've been linked with a lot of players. That one's gained a bit of momentum and we are quite far down the line with that but I don't know where it's at currently. All these things are still ongoing."