Philippe Clement admits Rangers have a ‘solution’ to seek ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League trip to Malmo.
The Ibrox side are set to kick off their campaign in Sweden in style as they look to navigate a tough campaign which will see them face Lyon, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
A victory in Sweden will not come easy however, with national champions Malmo historically proving tough opposition for Rangers in the past.
With the Champions League QR3 defeat of 2021 still fresh in the memory, Philippe Clement will do well to treat the Swedes with every respect ahead of Thursday’s match.
But with Rangers facing a Europa League selection dilemma in one position, Clement is presented the perfect opportunity to put his money where his mouth is.
Rangers hunt Europa League ‘solution’ at left-back
Rangers head to Malmo with a number of first-team stars unavailable for selection.
The Rangers careers of Brazilian striker Danilo and Welsh winger Rabbi Matondo have been somewhat defined by injury to date and both remain sidelined.
Neither will play in the Europa League group stage either, with both unregistered for this season’s Europa League squad as a result.
But it’s at left-back where Rangers face the biggest challenge this Thursday with Brazilian signing Jefte suspended and Turkish international Ridvan Yilmaz still injured.
Speaking after the 3-0 win over Dundee, Philippe Clement told journalists that he needs to work out a ‘solution’ ahead of the trip to Scandinavia.
“It’s a pity that with this crazy decision of the referee against Kyiv we miss also Jefte on Thursday,” Clement told Premier Sports.
“So that’s a big blow if you see the impact that he had already the last couple of weeks.
“So we need to try to find a solution there, Ridvan Yilmaz is still out.”
Could Philippe Clement trust Rangers academy talent?
Rangers manager Philippe Clement insists that bleeding academy talents must be high up on the agenda at Ibrox.
Speaking in May, Clement claimed that developing young talents from the club’s academy was crucial to a functional player trading model:
“The club needs for the future to get also money in by producing or making players better, getting young players in and to make them better to sell them. Also for sure out of the academy making players who can be starters in the first team.
“That needs to be a model that we will build the next couple of years, it is not the work of one week, two weeks, six months, or even one year or two years.”
So far, Clement has continued to develop young Northern Irish winger Ross McCausland whilst the Ibrox manager has handed opportunities to a number of young players.
One of these is academy graduate Robbie Fraser, who was handed a new Rangers contract last season after breaking through into the team.
The left-back has also played twice this season, coming off the bench in the wins over Ross County and St Johnstone.
There could be a temptation for Philippe Clement to start Ibrox utility man Dujon Sterling at left-back against Malmo in Sweden.
After all, Rangers’ Europa League foes will provide a stern test for the entire XI and Robbie Fraser doesn’t boast the experience the club might need to get a result.
But players need big experiences if they are to develop and perhaps the Belgian will view the situation at left-back as an opportunity rather than a negative.
