Beasley Sidelined for Months

U.S. international and Rangers left-winger DaMarcus Beasley could end up missing the rest of the SPL regular season as a result of a knee injury sustained on Tuesday night.

The speedy attacker damaged ligaments in his knee when he collided with VfB Stuttgart 'keeper Raphael Schafer during Tuesday night's 3-2 loss in Champions League play and has returned stateside to undergo surgery."It's not a cruciate injury, he doesn't have to have reconstructive surgery done or anything like that," said Rangers manager Walter Smith. "But it's a couple of ligaments at the side of the knee which need to be operated on.

"You are looking at a three- to four-month recovery period after the operation and the awkward part is he would be coming back towards the end of the season. The worst case scenario is that we can discount him for the rest of the season.

"It's a blow because he has been playing well for us," continued Smith. "It's disappointing for both DaMarcus and for us."

Beasley has played a big part in Rangers' 10-3-1 start in the SPL, leaving them just a single point adrift of Celtic for the league lead. Besides being sidelined for club play, the injury may also affect his availability for his country as well, with the U.S. opening their World Cup qualifying journey in June against the winner of Dominica/Barbados.