Lafferty put Rangers into the lead against Hearts on Saturday
Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist believes Kyle Lafferty's injury could not have happened at a worse time.
The 22-year-old striker could be sidelined for around six weeks after sustaining ankle ligament damage in last week's 2-2 draw with Hearts.
"It's a massive blow, more so for the player himself because in the last couple of games he was beginning to look like himself," McCoist said.
"He got a couple of goals and was looking the part."
Northern Ireland international Lafferty could return in time to play a part in the Scottish Premier League title run-in, as well as the Homecoming Scottish Cup final, if Rangers progress past St Mirren in the semi-finals.
But, after feeling as though he was finally beginning to prove himself at Ibrox, McCoist said news of the lengthy lay-off has been a major disappointment for Lafferty.
He will be down in the dumps but I'm very hopeful we will see him before the end of the season
Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist
McCoist continued: "It just sums up his season a little bit because he has had one or two injuries and it has been a stop-start season for him.
"But I'll remain optimistic until I'm told otherwise."
Lafferty has always expressed his desire to play as a centre-forward rather than the wide left position manager Walter Smith has often deployed him in this season, and was just beginning to make an impact in his favoured role.
"In my opinion he will be a centre-forward and a good one at that," McCoist added.
"We've probably been a little bit unfair on Kyle by playing him out on the left.
"Sometimes you just try to get all your goalscorers on the park so you can get more goals from all areas.
"Maybe that was a little unfair on him although he did score at Tannadice.
"He looks more at home through the middle, with goals against Hamilton and Hearts, and I thought he played well in the game against Celtic through the middle in the second half.
"It's a real disappointment for him but he's young and he will handle it fine.
"He will be down in the dumps but I'm very hopeful we will see him before the end of the season.
"If it's not to be, then it's not to be, but I think we have seen enough of him through the middle to realise he is now a good centre-forward for us."
Speaking on Rangers' official website, McCoist believes Lafferty, who opened the scoring against Hearts at the weekend, has already shown he has much more to offer at Ibrox.
He said: "Just before his injury, I thought he was the outstanding player on the park.
"Then he goes over on his ankle and damages the ligaments and that's a real disappointment. But, for 25 minutes, he was arguably the best player on the park."
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