Rangers boss Philippe Clement will be hoping that the international fortnight is the final bit of magic which breaks the haunting injury spell crippling his Ibrox side.
The Belgian manager successfully navigated his first six matches in charge despite having a series of major injuries to contend with, something he’s not been shy in commenting about.
But as the club amble to the final international break of the year, Rangers will get some much needed minutes on the training pitch and respite in the legs.
With only six players from the club’s patched-up squad heading out on international duty, it will give Philippe Clement plenty of time to prime his team for the weeks ahead.
Rangers are looking forward to a hectic run of 12 games in 37 days and this is a chance to work through any major injury issues and set us up for a phase II of the Belgian’s arrival.
Rangers injury woes show signs of healing
As things stand Rangers have been boosted by the return of several important players as of late; Ben Davies is back in the squad, Tom Lawrence got fans excited against Livingston and Kemar Roofe, well, Kemar Roofe is back on the bench at least.
Brazilian striker Danilo – whose fractured cheekbone hamstrung a team in dire need of attacking impetus – has been a breath of fresh air and could finally be the club’s answer up top.
With Kieran Dowell also coming back into contention, Dujon Sterling propping up the bench and Todd Cantwell getting back to his best, there is cause for optimism at the club in this regard.
Jose Cifuentes – injured in the last international break – has even come off the bench recently and Rangers can look forward to seeing more of the Ecuadorean in the weeks ahead.
Ryan Jack – who is out on international duty with Scotland – has also been a regular feature under Clement whilst Ridvan Yilmaz has finally been recalled to the Turkey set up.
Phil still without four
All this means that as Philippe Clement assesses his squad over the next two weeks there are really only four first-teamers who are nursing issues.
Long-term absentee Steven Davis is simply focusing on his rehab after a stint in the dugout, whilst there remains some uncertainty around John Souttar, Nicolas Raskin and Rabbi Matondo.
As John Souttar misses out on another Scotland call-up, the extent of Nicolas Raskin’s injury remains unclear and Rabbi Matondo – who is back in training – hasn’t been seen since September.
The latter three are very talented players who certainly offer something different to the squad and if Rangers can ease them back to the first-team now it’ll bode well going into that hectic run.
But before Rangers fans start believing Philippe Clement has waved his magic wand and expelled the injury demons around Ibrox, they’ll need to see such incantations have effect on the pitch first.
