Going into this week’s Old Firm derby, you would think that it was Celtic and not Rangers and Philippe Clement who have had to endure a lengthy injury list throughout the season.
Yes, they have had one or two key individuals missing but the Gers boss has had to, consistently, had to do without most of his front four being available as well as other members of the squad being out.
Against Hibernian at the weekend, Philippe Clement was delighted to see Abdallah Sima back on the Ibrox pitch but will he be fit enough to start against Celtic, Hall of Fame inductee Lee McCulloch believes that the Rangers manager will have a plan.
Lee McCulloch thinks Rangers will have Old Firm plan for Sima
The 22-year old has been out for three months and will be a little rusty, however, his age and natural athleticism should see him get up to speed relatively quickly.
He nearly added to his 16 goals for the season against Hibs and the Senegal international doesn’t look to have lost any of his pace that made him so dangerous before his untimely injury.
Philippe Clement has taken a more measured approach with players returning to fitness but McCulloch reckons that the Rangers gaffer might have something up his sleeve when asked on PLZ about the Old Firm duo and the key players that have been injured:
“It’s difficult because it’s not as if you can pace yourself in an Old Firm game to make sure you last the full 90 minutes.
“I would imagine Celtic will play a bounce game this week behind closed doors and I think Rangers will do the same with Sima and people coming back because the game time is golden when it comes to match day.
“You can do all the running in the world but it’s just not the same.”
Philippe Clement will have other priorities
On this occasion, I don’t agree with McCulloch.
Clement hasn’t had that many free mid-weeks and I would imagine that he will want to use the time to prepare his squad fully rather than for a match and then having to recover after it.
The other factor is that Rabbi Matondo and Fabio Silva are both available so there is no real need to rush Sima back – if he can manage 45 minutes then we will be doing well.
The biggest bonus is that Clement now has options and doesn’t have to keep the same players on for 90 minutes and can change things if plan A isn’t working.
For example, against Hibs, the entire front four was changed and ended with Matondo, Sima, Ross McCausland and Tom Lawrence who had all come off the bench.
Depth is going to be key over the coming weeks and, hopefully, Sima can play his part, not only at Ibrox but in the rest of the run in too.
