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Gordon Duncan questions Clement following today’s Rangers update
Gordon Duncan thinks that after a team news update, it will be “interesting” to observe how much Philippe Clement rotates his Rangers lineup.
At his Aberdeen press conference on Monday, February 5, Clement stated that center-back Leon Balogun will be sidelined due to a facial injury, while midfielder Ryan Jack will be rested.
Even though Danilo and Abdallah Sima are still long-term absentees at Ibrox, Philippe Clement still has a lot of choices available to him.
Speaking live on Sky Sports News [5 February, 14:39pm], Duncan said: “Rangers will be delighted the injury update isn’t as bad as usual.
“It seems like every week this season there’s a high-profile injury for Rangers.
“Clement says they want to manage Ryan Jack’s situation – he’s had a number of problems this season. He won’t play against his former side.
“Leon Balogun suffered a facial injury in the last game and is meeting a specialist, so he won’t be in the heart of their defence.
“John Souttar tends to come in when Balogun isn’t available, so a bit of a reshuffle but nothing severe.
“It’ll be interesting to see what Clement does because he made six changes at the weekend and is usually keen to rotate the squad.”
Philippe Clement’s Rangers options vs Aberdeen
Rangers do still have some key men on the sidelines, which is limiting Clement’s options in the centre-forward position as only Cyriel Dessers and Fabio Silva can play there.
The Belgian can afford to give a player like Jack a breather, though, and Balogun’s absence, while not ideal, is not the end of the world as Souttar will partner Connor Goldson.
The likes of Ridvan Yilmaz, Tom Lawrence, Scott Wright and Oscar Cortes will all be pushing for inclusion against Aberdeen on Tuesday (6 February) after coming off the bench in the 3-0 win over Livingston.
Clement has to be careful not to overdo the changes, and this is a game in which pretty much the strongest-possible XI must be named as Aberdeen will be tough opponents under new boss Neil Warnock.
The Scottish Cup tie with Ayr United next weekend presents a better chance to rest key men, so expect to see a very strong line-up at Ibrox against the Dons.
