RANGERS midfielder Steven Whittaker is confident he will soon be back to his best for Rangers without having to go under the knife.

Whittaker has been sidelined with a knee injury since the opening day of the Scottish Premier League.

After cortisone and anti-inflammatory injections, the midfielder is hopeful of forcing his way back into Walter Smith’s plans after being assured he should suffer no long-term problems.

He said: “I was a bit worried and took some advice.

“I asked people who had the injections and tried to get as much information out of the doctor as possible.

“He said it wouldn’t hamper me later on.

“If it hadn’t worked then I would have had a minor operation to see what was up. It’s helping just now and I’m trying just to get back to fitness.

“This has been the longest I’ve been out in my whole career, and it has been frustrating.”

Whittaker sustained the injury in a friendly with Liverpool and made one league and Champions League appearance.

“I’ve come in and tried to do some things in the morning and sometimes my knee wasn’t letting me do what I wanted it to do,” he said.

“That was hard to take, but it was about keeping myself as fit as I could. “When I first picked up the injury I wasn’t sure what was wrong.

“I didn’t know how long I’d be out, I didn’t have any answers.

“I felt it was quite serious – it stopped me doing quite a lot – so I thought it would take me a while to get back if I didn’t have the sort of injections I have had.”

Rangers are boosted by the return of captain Barry Ferguson for the game tomorrow.

Walter Smith has yet to decide whether Ferguson will start the game, but the Ibrox skipper will be involved at some stage after five months out with an ankle injury.

Brahim Hemdani and Steven Naismith are the only casualties.