Barry Ferguson wasn’t giving anything away as Rangers prepare to host Fenerbahce with ‘two or three’ injury doubts ahead of the Europa League clash.
Rangers fans have gotten used to injury problems at their club in recent seasons and even the change of manager has been unable to quell issues.
Robin Propper went off injured against Fenerbahce last week and remains a doubt for the sold-out Europa League clash at Ibrox.
But Barry Ferguson also revealed that there are other players in the Rangers squad struggling for fitness ahead of the monumental clash at Ibrox.
Barry Ferguson confirms three Rangers players could miss Fenerbahce clash
Barry Ferguson took the tactical plaudits following Rangers’ 3-1 victory over Fenerbahce in the Europa League.
A switch in formation caught Jose Mourinho and Fenerbahce off guard, with Rangers setting up for the counter attack and delivering a succession of deadly blows.
Ferguson has hinted that changes will be made ahead of the return leg but the Rangers manager wasn’t in the mood to give anything away to enquiring journalists.
The same can be said for the health of Ferguson’s squad, with the Rangers manager confirming that there are up to three doubts for the game when asked about the status of Robin Propper.
The Dutch defender was forced off during a collision with Jack Butland in the first half in Turkey, with Leon Balogun putting in a monumental performance in his place.
“Yeah, he’s done a couple of training sessions,” said Ferguson when asked about Propper. “He’s not been with the team but he was with the team today, and there’s been another one or two slight issues.
“Ideally, I would love to have everybody available, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes. So I’ll just need to wait again tomorrow morning, I’ll see how they wake up, and hopefully I’ll have a full squad to pick from.”
When pressed on who had been impacted, Ferguson wasn’t interested in giving Fenerbahce manager Mourinho any clues.
The Rangers boss also hinted that some members of his Europa League squad who didn’t play v Fenerbahce could get a run-out at Ibrox.
”Do you think I’m going to tell you? There’s two or three, that’s all I’ll say,” Ferguson replied.
“I’m hopeful that they’ll come through the session today okay. It’s just something you’ve got to deal with as a manager.
“As I say, in an ideal world, everybody would be fit and available 100 per cent, but that’s never the case.
“That’s why you carry a squad, that’s why it’s important that the guys that have not been involved, certainly last Thursday, they need to make sure they take information on.
“But as I said, I just need to wait until tomorrow, and hopefully I get good news rather than bad news.”
| Europa League registered Rangers players who never featured v Fenerbahce |
| Liam Kelly |
| Nedim Bajrami |
| Clinton Nsiala |
| Ross McCausland |
| Bailey Rice |
| Findlay Curtis |
| Danilo |
| Dujon Sterling |
Two in two out for Fenerbahce ahead of Europa League trip to face Rangers
Whilst Barry Ferguson has been coy on which players are available for Rangers in the Europa League clash, Fenerbahce have been less secretive.
Uploading an image to their official X account, the Turks have confirmed their squad with some major additions for the clash in Glasgow.
Jose Mourinho insists things will be different with Fred on board and the Brazilian midfielder is back in for Fenerbahce after suspension.
Fenerbahce also have once Rangers-linked Bright Osayi-Samuel back from suspension whilst Croatian keeper Dominic Livaković – who was on the bench in Istanbul – could be recalled.
By the same token, Turkish international defender Caglar Soyuncu is a sizeable loss to Fenerbahce’s chances, the defender having injured himself trying to clear Cyriel Dessers’ goal-bound shot.
There is also some controversy surrounding French attacker Allan Saint-Maximin, who was banished from Fenerbahce’s travelling party on his birthday.
