Jack Butland breaks silence as former Man United ace shares health update after internal bleed
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Jack Butland says he is 'focused on making a full recovery' after he was rushed to hospital with an internal bleed on New Year's Eve.
The 31-year-old ex-England international, now at Rangers, was set to feature against Celtic in the Old Firm derby on Thursday, but he has been ruled out. Butland spent the night in the hospital, but was discharged on Wednesday morning.
While he is out of hospital, Butland is set to be absent for the clash with Celtic at Ibrox, and it's unknown how long he will be unavailable for. Liam Kelly is now expected to deputise in his place, with Butland missing just his second Scottish Premiership game of the season.
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In a statement released on X, formerly Twitter, Rangers said: "Rangers can confirm goalkeeper Jack Butland will miss tomorrow’s Old Firm match with Celtic.
"The goalkeeper suffered an internal bleed in his leg which required hospital treatment, but he has since been released and is recovering.
"Everyone at Rangers wishes Jack a speedy recovery."
And now, Butland has released a message on his Instagram account to update supporters on his condition. He wrote: "I really appreciate the messages, but it's important the information is correct. I've suffered a significant bleed to my leg that needed that needed hospital attention, thankfully it's now under control and will lead to a full recovery hopefully sooner rather than later.
"Needless to say it's come at an awful time and I was fully focused on helped us as a club. The most important thing now is supporting the lads and focusing on getting fit as soon as possible. Let's stick together and push on @rangersfc," alongside a fist pumping emoji and a Great Britian flag.
Butland, a product of the Birmingham City academy, spent the second half of the 2022/23 season on loan at United. He was on the bench 20 times but never made a single first-team appearance. Butland returned to Crystal Palace in the summer before moving north of the border to Rangers.
He has since cemented his place as the No.1 at the Glasgow club. Butland made 58 appearances across all competitions during his first season at Rangers and has so far played 29 times this campaign. The former Stoke shot-stopper played 90 minutes during their 2-2 draw with Motherwell on Sunday.
Butland's absence Celtic is the latest blow hit ahead of their game against Celtic. Speaking ahead of the game, boss Philippe Clement said: "We have lost Tav [James Tavernier], as he got an injury against Motherwell. He has had a scan and he has damage and he will be out for a few weeks.
"It is a blow, every injury is, we have had a few in the last few weeks, with Nana Kasanwirjo, with John Souttar, Leon Balogun and before that Ridvan. It is about finding solutions and we have to do that.
"You can’t play on one leg, so we will see with Leon. Sometimes you have to take risks in this business, but we can’t take a crazy risk and potentially have the player out for months. We will see if he is ready or not.
"You have to adapt to the situation, sometimes you get positive surprises. Everyone who is fit has to give their all to try to win the game. They went full out in the cup final but the circumstances didn’t fall for us that day. We are going full on to try to get the victory."
