Rangers forward Abdallah Sima will be out for “between two and three months” after having an operation on a thigh injury.

The 22-year-old Senegalese international was sent home from the Africa Cup of Nations after sustaining an injury during training. Since joining on loan from Brighton in the summer, he has scored 15 goals.

Phillipe Clement stated prior to Wednesday’s victory at Easter Road: “The surgery went well; he will be out for two to three months.”

“We have had conversations with Brighton about Sima’s potential stay at the club during his injury.

“He had his surgery, and the surgeon was quite pleased with the outcome.

“He is a positive individual who consistently puts forth a lot of effort. We anticipate his return as soon as possible in a healthy manner, and we can rely on him when the season concludes.”

Rangers defeated the Capital Rangers 3-0, with goals from Ridvan Yilmaz, Todd Cantwell, and Cyriel Dessers, to close the margin at the top of the Premiership to five points.

Jack Butland, the club’s goalkeeper, contributed with a few vital save, and Fabio Silva, a January transfer, got his debut start.

The manager then praised his team in high terms and expressed his happiness at having a selection headache.

He said: “It is about everybody.

“To be honest, after a game like this, I don’t even remember who scored the goals because for me it is not important who scores.

“It’s scoring as a team and it is the same with Jack. He makes the saves because the other guys will get red cards if they make saves with their hands.

“But, for example, John (Souttar) also made a really good save with his chest. It’s a team effort. That’s what we wanted to create a few months ago. To see a team all the time on the pitch and the guys are doing that now.

“I hope also after several victories they keep on understanding where it is coming from. It is not falling out of the sky.

“It is about a lot of effort, a lot of solidarity and not having too big an ego to play for yourself.

“So I am going to be really strict on that and to look at the team and making team decisions.

“I told them after training yesterday [Tuesday] they give me quite a headache for the moment to pick a starting 11.