‘Interesting’ Philippe Clement question raised ahead of Rangers vs Aberdeen
Gordon Duncan says it will be “interesting” to see just how much Philippe Clement rotates his Rangers side following a team news update.
Clement confirmed at his Aberdeen presser on Monday (5 February) that midfielder Ryan Jack will be rested, while centre-back Leon Balogun is out with a facial injury.
Abdallah Sima and Danilo remain among the long-term absentees at Ibrox, but Philippe Clement still has plenty of options to choose from.
Speaking live on Sky Sports News [5 February, 14:39pm], Duncan said: “Rangers will be delighted the injury update isn’t as bad as usual.
“It seems like every week this season there’s a high-profile injury for Rangers.
“Clement says they want to manage Ryan Jack’s situation – he’s had a number of problems this season. He won’t play against his former side.
“Leon Balogun suffered a facial injury in the last game and is meeting a specialist, so he won’t be in the heart of their defence.
“John Souttar tends to come in when Balogun isn’t available, so a bit of a reshuffle but nothing severe.
“It’ll be interesting to see what Clement does because he made six changes at the weekend and is usually keen to rotate the squad.”
Philippe Clement’s Rangers options vs Aberdeen
Rangers do still have some key men on the sidelines, which is limiting Clement’s options in the centre-forward position as only Cyriel Dessers and Fabio Silva can play there.
The Belgian can afford to give a player like Jack a breather, though, and Balogun’s absence, while not ideal, is not the end of the world as Souttar will partner Connor Goldson.
The likes of Ridvan Yilmaz, Tom Lawrence, Scott Wright and Oscar Cortes will all be pushing for inclusion against Aberdeen on Tuesday (6 February) after coming off the bench in the 3-0 win over Livingston.
Clement has to be careful not to overdo the changes, and this is a game in which pretty much the strongest-possible XI must be named as Aberdeen will be tough opponents under new boss Neil Warnock.
The Scottish Cup tie with Ayr United next weekend presents a better chance to rest key men, so expect to see a very strong line-up at Ibrox against the Dons.
In other Rangers news, Clement admits a decision he had to make last week left him “hurt”.
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