Rangers: Philippe Clement will be fuming as Ridvan Yilmaz international development emerges
As with any football manager, Philippe Clement will have been sweating over the fitness of his Rangers players during the international break, with plenty still left to play for at Ibrox.
The likes of Fabio Silva, Rabbi Matondo, Cyriel Dessers and John Souttar have all been away with their respective national teams this week, though Ridvan Yilmaz was set to remain at Ibrox.
This was until Turkey called the in-form full-back up for friendly fixtures against Hungary and Austria, having to replace Cenzig Under and Ferdi Kadıoğlu due to injury after missing out on the initial squad selection.
Rangers stumped as Ridvan Yilmaz suffers injury with Turkey
After just 27 minutes on the pitch, having been handed his seventh international cap, Yilmaz was replaced due to injury and could be a major hit for the Gers in the remaining Scottish Premiership matches.
The 22-year-old has proven himself under Clement since the Belgian arrived at Ibrox in October, becoming the trusted left-back over veteran Borna Barisic, forcing the Croatian to seek other options this summer.
Starting six of the last eight matches for Clement, Yilmaz would be a massive miss if the Gers were to have to play without his no-nonsense defending, attacking prowess and ability to produce special moments.
Just one point behind Old Firm rivals Celtic, Rangers have the chance to lift their second Scottish Premiership title in the last decade, especially with a game in hand.
With an Old Firm match on the horizon too, Clement will be outraged that one of his defensive stars could be unavailable in the run-in to the end of the season, and will need to hope that Barisic is still focused.
The main hope, of course, will be that the injury is not too serious and that Yilmaz can return ahead of the Gers’ league clash with Hibernian on Saturday 30 March.
Considering that some other members of Clement’s squad are still away on international duty, the manager will remain on the edge of his seat as he awaits the resumption of club football.
In other Rangers news, the Light Blues have been hit by yet another new injury blow over the international break.
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