Rangers: Philippe Clement must take blame after Dujon Sterling incident v Hibernian
Philippe Clement lost another player to injury during the first half of the Scottish Cup clash between Rangers and Hibernian.
Dujon Sterling hobbled off with an injury that will almost certainly rule him out of the crucial Europa League last-16 second leg against Benfica.
That is a massive blow for Clement, who has seen a number of players join the injury list since taking over from Michael Beale in the Ibrox dugout.
While a number of those setbacks have been unavoidable, this particular incident was certainly one that could have been prevented.
Clement named an unchanged starting line-up for the quarter-final with Hibernian, despite it coming three days on from the Benfica first leg.
The Gers’ players put in a huge shift in that match in Portugal, with Sterling playing 77 minutes and indeed finding the back of the net.
Sterling was pictured with an ice pack on his hamstring at Estadio da Luz and, lo and behold, that was the injury that forced him off against Hibs.
Rangers are not overly blessed with wide options, but Rabbi Matondo was back in the squad at Easter Road, while Ross McCausland was also available.
This showdown with Hibs is massive, of course, but so is every game between now and the end of the campaign.
Rotation is therefore key, and unfortunately this decision has come back to haunt Clement.
Even if the medical staff signed off on Sterling being match ready, Clement should not have been risking him so soon after he picked up a knock.
Rangers have the options to cope without the wide player in the second half against Hibs, but let’s just hope he is not now facing any sort of lengthy spell on the sidelines at such a crucial period of the season.
In other Rangers news, Kenny Dalglish has given his views on Clement’s tenure at Ibrox so far.
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