By Daniel Feliciano

18th Oct, 2023 | 12:44pm

Jose Cifuentes could miss Rangers clash v Hibernian as image emerges of injured leg that saw him miss Ecuador game

Rangers boss Philippe Clement could be without midfielder Jose Cifuentes for his first game in charge against Hibernian.

The Belgian coach will take the hotseat for the first time on Saturday (21 October) at Ibrox and will be looking to turn the club’s fortunes around after Michael Beale was sacked following a 3-1 defeat to Aberdeen last time out.

But he may have to do it without summer signing Cifuentes, who was pictured with his leg taped up on international duty after he was left out of the Ecuador squad for their 0-0 draw with Colombia.

“New Rangers boss Philippe Clement is facing a fresh injury sweat with Jose Cifuentes missing out for Ecuador as an image emerged of him nursing a bandaged knee,” the Scottish Sun reported (18 October).

Blow

While you’d be hard pressed to find a Rangers fan who has been particularly impressed by Cifuentes’ performances since joining, there’s no doubt he’s got the attributes to be excellent.

A slow start to his Ibrox career has come alongside some poor results, but Clement doesn’t have many options in the centre of midfield right now.

John Lundstram is fit and has been in decent form, but Ryan Jack was forced to withdraw from international duty while Nicolas Raskin’s form hasn’t been great after he recently returned from injury.

Then you have Cifuentes’ new injury alongside Kieran Dowell and Todd Cantwell who aren’t fully fit yet either and that means the boss has a bit of a selection dilemma on his hands.

From a pure numbers point of view the injury is a blow, but on paper he also has all the attributes to be a huge success at Ibrox and fans should be hoping that it’s nothing serious.

In other Rangers news, official club partner shares “fear” after Clement appointment at Ibrox.