James Sands ‘struggling’ for inclusion at Rangers ahead of clash v Borussia Dortmund
James Sands is “struggling to be an option” for Rangers ahead of their Europa League showdown with Borussia Dortmund, according to Nico Cantor.
Writing via his personal Twitter account on 16 February, the CBS Sports journalist, who’s based in Miami, suggested that Sands, 21, could be axed from Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s line-up after he started in the win at Annan on Saturday.
Sands joined the Gers on an initial 18-month loan from New York City in the summer but has failed to hold down a starting spot for van Bronckhorst and it looks as though he’ll be overlooked at Signal Iduna Park in the Europa League on Thursday.
Not a great start
We have to admit that although it’s early days for Sands at Ibrox, the USA international has failed to impress so far.
He’s played just three times for the Light Blues with his first two appearances coming in the Scottish Premiership against Aberdeen and Livingston in January.
The on-loan utility man struggled to impress in those games and has been an unused substitute in the Scottish Premiership since, before he started at centre-back against Annan on Saturday.
Sands didn’t have a heap of work to do, understandably so, against the Scottish League Two club but it looks as though he’s going to miss out on van Bronckhorst’s starting line-up at Dortmund on Thursday.
He’s not the only defensive player who’ll miss out on starting. Filip Helander is unavailable due to not being selected in the Europa League squad and Leon Balogun is injured.
Sands can play at centre-back, right-back and as a central midfielder so he’ll be handy to have in case there are any more injury issues.
But van Bronckhorst’s move to sign Aaron Ramsey, coupled with the impressive form of Scott Arfield and John Lundstram, could put paid to any shot Sands has of playing in the midfield, meaning a slot at the back is most likely for him.
In other Rangers news, Michael Owen has predicted the scoreline.