And then there were two. Philippe Clement has a tough decision to make at left-back with his options now down to just Ben Davies and Adam Devine for Rangers clash with Sparta Prague.
There are other permutations, like going to the academy and promoting a specialist in the position but that would be a bigger risk than putting a square peg into a round hole for such a big game.
Building up to the Europa League group stage match with Sparta Prague, Sky Sports have revealed that Philippe Clement won’t have it easy for his first Rangers game on the continent.
Philippe Clement has tough Rangers decision to make
When Michael Beale left Ridvan Yilmaz out of the Europa League squad, you could almost see it coming.
Borna Barisic getting subbed in the opening stages against Hibernian means that the Gers boss is already going to have to change his plans.
The only other senior full-back is Adam Devine but he hasn’t played anything other than B team football all season and is a right-back by trade.
Philippe Clement has to go with Ben Davies, who nearly left for Stoke City in the summer, which could give an added benefit for Rangers.
If Davies starts it means that there is an extra centre-half available to help out at set-pieces, an area of Sparta Prague’s game that has caused problems for other teams already in Europe this season.
As a natural left footer, it also means that there is a better balance to how Rangers build play.
Davies is a good passer of the ball so he will be able to pick out targets ahead of him but there is an adaptation that Philippe Clement can make to make the best out of one of Rangers most potent attacking threats.
James Tavernier.
Davis is unlikely to make the sort of inside runs that Ridvan Yilmaz makes or the overlapping ones that Borna Barisic does at his best.
As a result, Tavernier should be given more license to get forward with Rangers almost forming a back three when he does.
Sparta like to counter attack quickly in transition so this subtle tweak could come in handy with the extra body to cover.
Philippe Clement will have dealt with injury lists in the past and training will be tailored accordingly, not that he will want to give anything away.
If the Gers boss can get an impressive result given the current injury list it will be another indication that Ranges have got it right.
