GLASGOW, Scotland — Going for a quadruple isn’t easy — as Rangers is discovering.
The Glasgow team hosts Fiorentina in the first leg of the UEFA Cup semifinals on Thursday with eight players likely to be missing through injury or suspension.
Rangers has already won the Scottish League Cup and trails league leader Celtic by two points with three games in hand. By the time it plays Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup final on May 24, the UEFA Cup final would have been played in Manchester 10 days earlier.
Rangers coach Walter Smith could be without striker Steven Naismith for the rest of the campaign after he injured his knee at the weekend. While goalkeeper Allan McGregor and winger Chris Burke aren’t certain to return from ankle injuries.
Lee McCulloch, Charlie Adam and DaMarcus Beasley are unlikely to recover, and captain Barry Ferguson and Kevin Thomson are banned for Thursday’s match and will leave a hole in midfield.
A five-man midfield could feature Steven Whittaker, Steven Davis, Brahim Hemdani, Christian Dailly and Thomas Buffel.
"We just have to keep going and do what we have been doing," Smith said. "It’s not ideal, but we have lads who can come in and do a job."