Philippe Clement must be wondering if there is ever going to be a time during his time at Rangers that he is going to be able to field his strongest XI.
The injury list is shorter than it has been at any point since the manager took over at Ibrox, however, it is the quality of players who are missing that will frustrate the big Belgian the most.
Clement will be one of the few bosses thankful for the international break so that he can get more bodies back on the other side to strengthen a squad that needs as much quality as possible.
Good and bad news as Philippe Clement gives Rangers update
Speaking after Rangers 2-0 win over St Johnstone, Philippe Clement revealed that there is a mixture of good, and bad, news:
“I expect in training to have Danilo and Ridvan (Yilmaz) maybe, and the two others not yet, it’s too early for them.”
But, when asked about Oscar Cortes, the Gers boss said:
“Yeah, that’s going to be longer term.”
Define: “longer term”.
Cortes was only ruled out at the end of September so is only two weeks down the road to recovery from a knock picked up in training.
When Clement initially broke the news about Cortes, he said that it was going to be “several weeks”.
Nothing, really, has changed in terms of the Colombia Under-20 international’s prognosis.
The absence of both Cortes and Rabbi Matondo has seen a shuffling off the pack in recent weeks but that situation has eased with Nedim Bajrami and Ianis Hagi both being capable of playing on the wing.
Now for the good news
Ridvan and Danilo have been back on the training ground already and they will now be looking to build up fitness again.
As with the last break, it would be a surprise if a bounce game isn’t arranged for those that are short of minutes.
Ridvan faces a fight to get his place back, however, his return would allow Jefte to be used higher up the pitch too and give the manager more options.
As for Danilo, the recent form of Cyriel Dessers has nose-dived and the Brazilian would be a much-welcomed sight on the Rangers bench.
That the 25-year old only has 24 minutes to his name in the Premiership and still managed to open his account, showed exactly what the Light Blues are missing.
It was a moment that the striker waited a long time for, as told to Rangers TV:
“I have to thank my team-mates and the coach for giving me confidence to play my first league game of the season and to score my first goal.
“How did the first goal feel? So many things came to mind and I got emotional.
“You have to be ready when that moment comes. In training I had scored some goals, so I was ready for that moment.
“It was a great day, the boys did a great job before I came in so it made it easier.
“It gives you confidence and hopefully it is the first of many.
“I feel great right now and it was time for me to get an opportunity after working so hard. The gaffer always wants to give me minutes at the right time.
“It was hard for me to be watching from the sidelines waiting for my chance. I will be doing all I can to get more minutes now.
“I need to keep working hard and get more minutes. I have to show up well at training and in games.”
He wasn’t quite back at square one, but sharpness will be the main objective over the next few weeks.
The next step after that, will be to take Dessers’ starting jersey off of him, despite his good start to the season in terms of numbers.
Competition for places always sharpens the mind and will only be a good thing when Danilo is fully up to speed.
Due to not being in the Europa League squad, expect to see the Gers number 99 lining up at the weekends in the imminent future.
