Ahead Wednesday’s Scottish Premiership clash away from home at Dundee, Rangers boss Philippe Clement was asked about the availability – or not – of a number of key players.
And the Belgian’s response was, well, not too positive.
One of the club’s most consistent performers throughout 2024 was missing during Sunday’s thrilling Old Firm derby clash with Celtic. And the midweek trip to Tony Docherty’s Dundee side will come too soon for him too.
“Ridvan is still missing, yes,” Philippe Clement says of Rangers left-back Yilmaz. “The rest no special things after the last game.”
At least Abdallah Sima is back in action. The Brighton loanee marked his return with a goal late on in that 3-3 Celtic draw, and his comeback could hardly be better timed with January signing Oscar Cortes joining long-term absentee Danilo on the sidelines.
Rangers season could be over for two Ibrox stars
Danilo, the former Feyenoord and Ajax striker, has only featured in 12 league matches during his debut season at Ibrox. As for Cortes, meanwhile, whether the Lens loanee ever features in Rangers blue again remains to be seen.
The Glasgow giants do have the option to turn the £4 million Colombia international into a permanent member of Clement’s roster. Cortes turned out only seven times before suffering what the manager called a ‘severe’ muscle injury.
The good news is that, like with Danilo, Cortes made enough of an impression before his injury to suggest that he could still be a very useful member of the squad long-term.
“I think there’s a big chance that the season is finished for (Danilo and Cortes),” Clement sighs. “But you never know if they’ll be ready for the last week.
“For them, it’s really (a case of) are they going to be ready for the last part of the season? It depends if you play a cup final or not, and we’ll make an evaluation at that moment. It’s around that period that they will be fit again.
“So it’s difficult to speak about one week or two weeks according to that. We have to see the situation with the squad and how they are.”
What does the future hold for Roofe and Raskin?
There may be a place back in the squad, however, for Kemar Roofe and Nicolas Raskin at Dundee. The duo were left out against Celtic in what was, if nothing else, a testament to the strenth in depth at Rangers’ disposal these days.
“Of course, (Roofe and Raskin have a role to play) like everybody,” former Monaco boss Clement adds. “Maybe they’ll be in the squad tomorrow. That depends on positions, how the opponent is, how we are, the form they show in training.
“I don’t have anything to say about that. It’s not that they’re not performing but there’s a lot of competition. This is Rangers and this is what we want, to have competition for spots and that everybody needs to fight for their spots to be in the team or on the bench.”
A win on Wednesday – this is Rangers’ game in hand after all – will see Clement’s side overtake Celtic in top spot with only six matches remaining.
