Johnly Yfeko in contention for rare Rangers appearance as training pictures emerge
Johnly Yfeko could be in line for a rare Rangers appearance against Sparta Prague having been pictured in first-team training, as shared by the Daily Record.
The newspaper shared on its website on Wednesday (25 October) a photo of the 20-year-old at Auchenhowie this week as Philippe Clement has to decide who should replace the injured Borna Barsic at left-back for the Light Blues’ clash on Thursday 26 October.
With Ridvan Yilmaz not included in the European squad, it appeared that Adam Devine was the “natural choice” to replace the Croatian international, but the sighting of Yfeko in training may mean that the decision is not clear-cut.
Yfeko might “fancy his chances” of beating Devine to a starting role in the Czech Republic, having last featured for the Light Blues in the Viaplay Cup win over Greenock Morton in August, with Clement’s final decision potentially coming down to which of them trained the hardest at Auchenhowie.
Bold decision
If Clement opts to start Yfeko for what is a crucial Europa League clash it would represent an incredibly bold and brave decision from the Belgian as he would be essentially throwing a youth player straight into the deep end in only his second game in charge.
The 20-year-old defender is yet to make a single appearance for the Scottish Premiership and is instead a regular for the Rangers B team so it has to be expected that he may make the trip to Prague purely to provide cover as a last resort following Barisic and Dujon Sterling’s injuries.
Devine is by no means an experienced defender, but he has waited patiently from the bench over the last few seasons and even made a few starts in the Scottish Premiership last year as he deputised from left-back so it would make sense for him to be named in the starting XI on Thursday.
Whoever is deployed by Clement on the left of defence is going to have their work cut out as is more than likely Sparta will look to target the obviously weak area of the Rangers side. Whether Yfeko pips Devine or not, both could have a role to play in the Europa League.
The showdown has come and gone, it’s time for a decision.
In other Rangers news, Pascal Jansen has admitted that he was flattered to be linked with the Ibrox job before Clement was appointed