Graham Murty has revealed that Bruno Alves has suffered a back injury.
On Tuesday The Times carried a report that the defensive ace had refused to be a substitute in Saturday’s home defeat from Hamilton Accies.
Although an un-named Ibrox source denied the story to the Daily Record and The Sun back injuries are notoriously difficult to diagnose.
Speaking to the club website Murty explained: “Bruno Alves wasn’t fit for Saturday with a sore back, and he has stepped-up his rehab but it is very-much a day-by-day process for him and we will see how he reports in tomorrow.”
Alves, who turns 36 next week, has made 11 appearances since heading up the Pedro Caixinha revolution in the summer.
A mystery injury forced him to miss the 2-0 derby defeat from Celtic but he did spend that weekend in Madrid working with Ronaldo’s physio.
In a recent interview Alves revealed that Ronaldo and Pepe were constantly phoning him for the inside gossip from Murray Park with Pepe believed to be angling for a dream move to Sevco next summer.
Murty will host a media conference tomorrow as he begins his fifth week as caretaker manager.
