Confirmed: Nicolas Raskin, John Souttar and Borna Barisic ruled out for Rangers vs Dundee
Nicolas Raskin, John Souttar and Borna Barisic are unavailable for Rangers ahead of their SPFL clash with Dundee on Wednesday night, Philippe Clement has confirmed.
Barisic has been missing since limping off with a problem in Clement’s first game, while Raskin was substituted just after the hour at the weekend int he 2-1 win over Hearts.
But both players will be absent in midweek joining John Souttar, Kemar Roofe, Rabbi Matondo, Dujon Sterling, Jose Cifuentes and Tom Lawrence on the sidelines, although the latter has returned to training.
“Raskin is not in the squad tomorrow, he was doing good things so it is a pity,” Clement said.
“I hope it is short-term, we will see the next couple of days.
“Lawrence is back training but not yet fit enough to be in the squad. John Souttar will also be unavailable with a small muscle issue.”
Clement also revealed that Kieran Dowell will be with the squad for the game, making his return from injury too.
Momentum
The performances under Clement are yet to bring anything special, but you can already see a clear structure and idea in place that wasn’t there with Michael Beale.
The win over Hearts on Sunday was absolutely huge for team morale after the drab draw in Prague during midweek, and the nature of the two late goals will mean confidence is high coming into this one.
Injuries have been a big issue in recent weeks but Todd Cantwell and Danilo’s returns have come at a great time, while Borna Barisic is expected to return to training this week too even if this game has come too early for him.
These are all positives for the manager and that suggests that performances will only get better from here on in too. This clash with Dundee is absolutely massive after the gap at the top was cut to five points over the weekend, and Rangers can put the pressure on with a win on Wednesday.
That should then see great momentum carried over into the big League Cup semi-final clash with Hearts on Sunday, with Clement knowing how important winning that trophy could be to the rest of the season.
In other Rangers news, Ally McCoist reacts to “terrific” behind the scenes news at Ibrox.