Andy Halliday convinced Rangers player is off after what he saw at Ibrox

Andy Halliday believes a decision made by Derek McInnes ahead of Rangers' clash with Jablonec could be pretty telling.

Rangers edged out Czech side Jablonec 1-0 at Ibrox in a low-quality Europa Conference League playoff qualifier.

Ryan Naderi scored early in the second half to put the Gers ahead after they had been booed off at the break.

Cammy Devlin's red card with a quarter of the match played, having only just come on as a substitute, left the hosts sweating.

McInnes named a strong starting line-up for the contest, with Nicolas Raskin the only change, and his side held on for the slender win.

Dan Neil was brought into the side in Raskin's place, with Halliday finding that a particularly interesting development.

Why Nicolas Raskin call isn't what it seems

Halliday was at Ibrox working as a pundit for BBC Sport.

He got to see Rangers' struggles up close at Ibrox, particularly during the first half.

The pundit noted how Raskin missing from the starting XI looks particularly suspicious amid strong talk of an exit over the next week.

Speaking on Sportsound prior to kickoff, Halliday said: "That tells me something.

"I don't think he's out due to form, because of his performance at the weekend [against St Mirren].

"You just wonder if interest in Nico Raskin has started to ramp up. We all seen what happened to Youssef Chermiti - is it now a case of Nico Raskin sitting on the bench with interest coming from elsewhere? It's an opportunity for Dan Neil."

Many will agree with Halliday's sentiment. However, McInnes insisted Raskin's absence from the starting XI was down to injury reasons.

"Nico is managing an ankle injury," McInnes told Rangers TV. "He needed an injection after the game on Sunday. It gives him a little bit of time to recover, and it gives Dan the opportunity to play."

Did Raskin come off the bench vs Jablonec?

McInnes turned to Devlin and Findlay Curtis in a double change with 69 minutes on the clock.

Devlin did not last long before being shown a straight red for a poor challenge.

Interestingly, McInnes opted against turning to Raskin despite having substitutions available to him and his side needing some quality.

He instead brought on Connor Barron and Kosta Nedeljkovic late on to help see things through, while Lawrence Shankland was the fifth player introduced.

If Raskin was not going to be used in a game with as low quality as this, the question is why was he in the squad at all?

Whether it was indeed down to an injury or not, Raskin playing no part against Jablonec will do little to stop the speculation over his future.