Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst explains that he had no choice but to leave Swedish centre-back Filip Helander out of his Europa League squad ahead of the Dortmund clash.
Speaking to the press as Rangers prepare to face off against Borussia Dortmund in the playoff round to enter the last 16 of the competition, van Bronckhorst goes into the match without the ex-Bologna defender.
This after Filip Helander underwent knee surgery earlier in the season and despite the fact Fil returned to Rangers action in the 3-0 win over Annan Athletic, playing 60 minutes.
There’s been some confusion regarding the defender’s exclusion, both considering his status in the squad and continuing issues at centre-back, but van Bronckhorst insists his hands were tied.
This is because of the fact Filip Helander is only just returning from that lengthy injury lay-off and the club do not want to risk his recovery.
“Filip is not in our squad. We have limited spaces unfortunately to get players registered,” said van Bronckhorst [Rangers].
“So for me to put Helander out was a difficult decision because he is a very important player for us.
“But he only played his first 60 minutes after so many months so he is not in the squad.”
Rangers boss explains Filip Helander Dortmund absence
The situation also comes at a challenging time for Rangers, who’ve been plagued with defensive injury problems all season long.
Leon Balogun – the Nigerian international who generally works in rotation with Helander alongside Connor Goldson – is also out of the clash after sustaining a hamstring injury against Hibs.
The ex-Brighton centre-back is another who is only just returning from injury with Calvin Bassey now favourite to start at the back in the Westfalenstadion.
“Leon is not available for tomorrow,” said van Bronckhorst.
“Hopefully he will be available for next week.”
But whilst the experienced defensive duo of Filip Helander and Leon Balogun will miss the clash for Rangers, one key Ibrox first-teamer is back in the squad for the trip to Dortmund.
