The timing of those injuries could not be any worse, with a crucial UEFA Cup tie against Hapoel Tel Aviv looming on Thursday night.

Rangers’ hopes of progressing in Europe already hang in the balance following a 2-1 defeat in Israel in the first leg last week.

Ferguson was accused by Hapoel of elbowing one of their players during that match but was cleared by UEFA to play in the return leg at Ibrox.

And fellow midfielder Hemdani now hopes the Gers skipper will not be denied the chance to play after all through injury.

“We will see on Monday at Murray Park how he is,” he said. “I hope he will be back for the team.

“We need to have a full squad because it’s difficult to play every three or four games.

“We saw today it was difficult to play well so we need everybody.”

With Svensson also a doubt and Sasa Papac cup-tied and Ugo Ehiogu unlikely to return from injury on time, central defence could be a problem for Rangers ahead of the European clash.

But Hemdani says he would be willing to revert back to the centre-half role he occupied earlier in the season to help Rangers through the tie.

“If I have to do it, I will do it,” he said.

Goals from Kris Boyd and Ferguson secured the win for Rangers yesterday, despite Carl Finnigan opening his goalscoring account for Falkirk.

The victory allowed Rangers to strengthen their grip on second place in the SPL, with Aberdeen and Hearts both dropping points on Saturday.

And Hemdani admits, despite a decent run in the UEFA Cup this season, clinching the runners-up spot is essential so they can have a crack at the Champions League instead next season.

“The UEFA Cup is not enough for the club,” he said.

“When you play here, you have to win the title.

“When that’s not possible, you have to be second.

“It’s very important for the players and everybody at the club to be back in the Champions League.”

Falkirk have now lost their last six games and boss John Hughes said: “If we keep giving away the goals we have over the last month, we’re going to struggle to win games.”