The attacking pair are ready to play after long injury lay-offs.
Rangers boss Michael Beale thinks fit-again strikers Kemar Roofe and Tom Lawrence will play a key role this season and will not be used as cover for his summer additions.
Injuries have hampered the pair’s stay at Ibrox, with Lawrence suffering a knee injury shortly after joining from Derby County last summer and now returning after 11 months on the sidelines.
Roofe has scored 36 goals for Rangers since signing from Anderlecht in 2020, but a succession of ailments has kept him from establishing himself as a regular starter.
Roofe and Lawrence may have slipped down the pecking order after Beale oversaw a summer revamp of the squad that saw attackers Danilo, Cyriel Dessers, Abdallah Sima, and Sam Lammers added to the options at the top end of the team, but Beale insists that is not the case.
The manager is preparing his side for a huge week, which begins with a trip to Ross County for the Saturday lunchtime Premiership fixture before a trip to Eindhoven to play PSV in the Champions League and then the first derby against Celtic next weekend.
Asked if he was close to knowing his preferred starting side, Beale pointed out the demands of playing domestic and European fixtures in a busy schedule and said that Roofe and Lawrence were in contention, and he didn’t view them as reserves or substitutes.
“Tom and Kemar are really in my thoughts for that,” he said.
“Not having them since I have been here has been a big frustration for me. Those two are in my thoughts as starters, not as back-up players.
“Every team needs three number nines and at the moment we have Cyril Desserts, Danilo and Kemar.
“We have other people who can play there. Abdallah Siam’s strongest position is probably a number nine but he can play both sides. Sam Lammers has played there as well.
“Kemar has shown it in training, but we have to make a call. He will not be able to be involved in three games a week right now so the call is the domestic games at the weekend that he is involved in and we will deal with Europe depending on what competition we are in and we will pick a squad then.
“Tom has obviously been out for 11 months, he has had a couple of behind-closed-doors training games.
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He played with the B team this week and is eager to contribute. He is not yet ready to play 90 minutes, but Tom will be by the time we return from the international break. What a lift that will be for everyone.”
The heightened competition has already irritated one player, with Ianis Hagi expressing his displeasure at not being assured a regular starting spot. The Rangers manager disclosed last week that Hagi and his agency were considering alternatives for a transfer away, and on Friday he provided an update on Glen Kamara’s future, stating that the Finnish midfielder might leave the club in the coming days.
“Glen is the one who is closest,” Beale said. “We had an honest conversation when I came back into the club about his future. There has been no fall-out.
“We were expecting Glen to move this summer. It was his wish as well. I wasn’t in the mood to persuade anyone to play for Rangers.
“It has to be the right club and valuation. He has been an excellent signing, but I want different here.
“There has been a lot of hot air around Ianis in the last week or so. It was a logical conversation. He has missed a year of football and we are very loaded in the positions he plays and he wants to know if is a main starter.
“We will see. It’s got to be right for Ianis and I am not dismissing Ianis being an important player either.”
