Ryan Jack out of Europa League game v Slavia Prague
Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has confirmed that Ryan Jack has been ruled out of the second leg Europa League tie against Slavia Prague on Thursday.
That comes despite Jack being named in the Scotland squad by Steve Clarke.
Gerrard said in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday, “I’ve spoken to Steve Clarke on Ryan Jack and a number of players but that will remain private.
“Ryan won’t be involved tomorrow.”
The team news was posted on the official Rangers Twitter account on Wednesday.
Talking on Sky Sports News [13:00, 16/03/21] Clarke said of Jack: “He is an injury doubt, I’ve named him in the squad and I’m hoping he’ll get some good training in this week and be involved with us, but always in the back of your mind you need an alternative.”
Clarke needs to listen
From the sounds of it, Gerrard is not too happy with Clarke about the inclusion of Jack in the Scotland squad.
He’s obviously not fit enough to play or Gerrard would be including him in the squad for the Slavia Prague game.
With the league won, this is where the real focus for Gers is now, despite a huge Old Firm clash with Celtic on the near horizon.
If Jack is ruled out of that game too – and it seems likely he will be – we can’t see any way in which Jack should go on international duty with Scotland.
What he needs is rest and recovery time and he’ll get that if Clarke sees sense after his chat with Gerrard and picks one of his alternatives.
These World Cup qualifiers are obviously important for Scotland but they’ve come at a terrible time for Gers and other clubs.
In other Rangers news, this Slavia player has revealed what he said to Ianis Hagi after the full-time whistle last week.