Thanks to the maiden call-ups earned by Nico Raskin and Hamza Igamane, the number of Rangers players in senior international duty this month reached double figures last week.
Liam Kelly and John Souttar are part of Steve Clarke’s latest Scotland roster. Ross McCausland will be available for Northern Ireland.
Ditto Ianis Hagi for Romania, Nedim Bajrami for Albania, and both Tom Lawrence and Rabbi Matondo could be in action for Wales.
Hamza Igamane forced his way into the Morocco squad, meanwhile, even before his last-gasp heroics ended Rangers’ five-year wait for a win at Celtic Park on Sunday.
Nico Raskin should make his Belgium bow against Ukraine on Thursday; A reward for his own exceptional form since the November break.
Czech Republic boss Ivan Hasek likened Vaclav Cerny to Bayern Munich legend Arjen Robben, by the way, with the Wolfsburg loanee having scored many of his career-best tally of 17 goals via that lethal left boot.
There were, however, still a few notable absentees. Cyriel Dessers absence from the Nigeria roster caused plenty of bemusement.
And Mohamed Diomande could have forgiven for feeling a little hard done by himself when he was left off the 23-strong Ivory Coast squad for the World Cup qualifying double-header against Burundi and Gambia.
Rangers’ Mohamed Diomande parachuted in to Ivory Coast squad
Mohamed Diomande was at the centre of an international tug-of-war a few months back. Would he pick the country of his birth – the Ivory Coast – or would he instead follow his Ghanaian descent? In the end, Diomande chose the former.
He may have wondered why he’d bothered when he was cut from the squad back in November, only a few months after earning the first of his four senior caps. Lightning looked to have struck twice, meanwhile, when Emerse Fae announced his latest squad a couple of days ago.
But Lady Luck is shining down on Rangers’ number ten. Hamed Junior Traore’s loss is Mohamed Diomande’s gain.
As Super Sport explain, a shoulder injury forced Traore to suddenly pull out. AFC Bournemouth’s £20 million forgotten man has been a player reborn on loan at Auxerre across the Channel, putting a far more underwhelming temporary stint with Napoli behind him.
With ten goals in 23 starts, Traore is also the top-scoring midfielder in France’s first division. Though Diomande has an eye for a goal himself. The £4.5 million signing from Nordsjaelland took his tally to six – alongside his seven assists – when sweeping home a composed volley to put Rangers 2-0 up at half-time at the home of their bitter Old Firm rivals.
Now that Traore is unavailable, Diomande – having replaced him in Fae’s squad as a late addition – will be hoping he can provide the box-crashing threat Fae needs without the Auxerre talisman at his disposal.
Diomande is benefitting from Barry Ferguson’s Ibrox influence
Following his appointment as interim boss recently, Barry Ferguson spoke of Diomande’s potential but also the need to instil greater consistency in the mercurial 23-year-old.
“[Diomande] is certainly a player that I see a lot in [but] I think there’s still areas of his game that he has to improve,” Ferguson said. “I understand that. It’s the same with Nico Raskin. It’s the same with Bailey Rice. It’s the same with all the midfielders.
“But he’s certainly a player that I think has got a bright future.”
Alongside Vaclav Cerny, James Tavernier and Connor Barron, Diomande is one of those to have benefitted the most from Ferguson’s inspired shift to a 3-4-2-1 formation. Rangers may finally have stumbled upon his most effective position; a roving attacking midfielder sitting in between a hard-working double-pivot and a physical number nine.
”We have a coach who was a midfielder and he’s helping us,” Diomande said when asked about the influence wielded on the training pitch by their legend-turned-manager.
”We’ve seen how [Ferguson] played before and he’s really giving his experience to us and we just go and express ourselves.
”He always says ‘go and do what you’re good at’ and I’m just happy I’m free to play and get in the right positions.”
