Dujon Sterling absence ‘strange’ as Philippe Clement faces Rangers selection headache after Borna Barisic injury – Chris Jack
Dujon Sterling’s unexplained absence from the Rangers squad for the win over Hibs was “strange” amid the “main selection question” at left-back ahead of Sparta Prague, says Chris Jack.
The Herald journalist suggested on the Rangers Review Morning Briefing on 23 October that the English full-back may have picked up an injury despite manager Philippe Clement not mentioning him in an extensive rundown ahead of the weekend win.
With Borna Barisic limping off on Saturday (21 October) and Michael Beale having decided to omit back-up Ridvan Yilmaz from the Europa League squad the new boss is facing a selection headache at the left-back spot for midweek if the Croatian’s injury keeps him out, and with the reason for Sterling’s absence unclear.
Jack said (7m 55s): “That’s the main selection question now because if [Barisic] doesn’t [make it] it does leave Rangers with a problem to solve.
“Michael Beale justified those selection calls a couple of days after they were made and went through the various permutations of who can get on that UEFA list, and Yilmaz missed out on it.
“You always run the risk then that if your first choice left-back ends up injured, as we’ve found ourselves in that situation, it does potentially leave you short.
“We don’t know what the situation is with Dujon Sterling. He wasn’t in the squad at the weekend. Given that Ben Davies and [Leon] Balogun were on the bench I do find it strange that Balogun didn’t drop out and Sterling get a place there.
“So perhaps he’s picked up something. He wasn’t one though that the manager mentioned on Friday (20 October) and he went through the injuries fairly extensively, so we’ll try to find out in the next couple of days if there’s anything in Sterling’s status.”
Walked right into it
If Barisic is indeed ruled out for the trip to the Czech Republic then it will mean the risk that the previous manager took on the European squad has quickly been realised.
Yilmaz’s snub was second-guessed at the time, and suggested that he might not be long for Ibrox, before the Turk then suddenly found himself back in the league squad and indeed the team.
Sterling’s Rangers career has also been uninspiring so far, having not seen any action since a three-minute substitute appearance in the League Cup almost a month ago on 27 September.
His signing from Chelsea on a free transfer in the summer would appear to have been for exactly the situation the club now finds itself in, albeit with Yilmaz’s unavailability self-inflicted by Beale.
Left-back has proven a frustrating position for the Light Blues for some time now, with Barisic remaining the de facto number one since Calvin Bassey was sold despite regular criticism over his defensive ability.
Yilmaz was signed as the presumed heir to the position, and then Sterling was secured this summer as more competition, yet neither has been used with any regularity.
If Barisic is set for a spell on the sidelines now then one or the other should be ready to step up, but with one ruled out by a baffling managerial decision for the next game and the other’s availability a mystery for now that is as yet no given.
In other Rangers news, a hefty January bid has been mooted to “force Ranger’s hand” towards selling a star man.