Naismith hoping for return before end of season

Steven Naismith could make a fleeting return for Rangers before the end of the season.

The forward is recovering well from a serious knee injury, which he sustained during a match at Aberdeen in October last year.

Naismith is back in light training following his recovery from cruciate ligament damage and is continuing to have scans.

His manager, Ally McCoist, says he doesn’t want to rush the player back unnecessarily. But if he is given the all clear by doctors, the Scotland international could be given game time to boost his confidence ahead of the off-season.

“Stevie is doing really well and he was going for a scan today just to check up on his knee and make sure everything is ok,” McCoist told Blues News.

“He’s coming along really nicely but there is no point in rushing anything at the moment with the end of the season coming.

“With that said, I would nice to see if Naisy maybe could get a game in somewhere, although we’d obviously take advice from the medical team on that.

“For his own peace of mind, if nothing else, it would be good if he could get 45 minutes somewhere and then he could go away and have a holiday knowing he is absolutely fine.

“It’s not a disaster if that doesn’t happen though and if he comes back in pre-season instead we will be fine with that.”

Naismith, who has played 141 times for Rangers since joining from Kilmarnock in 2007, was subject to interest from West Bromwich Albion towards the end of March.

It is understood a bid was made by the English Premier League side for the 25-year-old, who is under contract until the summer of 2015. Rangers’ administrators rejected the offer.