With Kevin Thomson sidelined with a calf injury, the door has now been open for the US International Maurice Edu to make his awaited return from a knee injury picked up during the final game of last season at Tannadice following a strong challenge from Darren Dods. Edu hasnt played a first-team game since then and has been recovering from surgery during the summer.The dynamic 23 year-old played 70 minutes last week in a bounce match against Walt Weiss Jersey Partick Thistle at Murray Park and could return to first-team football as early as tomorrow at Easter Road. Utility man Lee McCulloch looks to be the favourite to deputise for Thomson tomorrow, but with Madjid Bougherra departing for Angola this week, McCulloch is set to find himself at Centre-back alongside David Weir for the Dundee United and Celtic games coming up very soon. If Edu is in Walter Smiths Tony Phillips Jersey plans for the Old Firm game he will need some match-practice which may involve a sub appearance or a start tomorrow at Hibs and a start against Dundee United next Wednesday.Edu has only featured 12 times for Rangers since his move from Toronto last season, but he made a big impact in the final 10 games of the season where he produced several top performances including the 1-0 win over Celtic last season. The door is open for Edu to grab a first-team jersey at the most important time of the season in what has been a more fluent, entertaining Rangers over the past few weeks.