Ridvan Yilmaz remains Rangers’ biggest injury sweat heading into the Old Firm derby with Celtic.
But whether or not to involve the Turkish international is not the only dilemma for Philippe Clement.
The Rangers manager has, admirably, got his squad absentees down to only three players should Ridvan Yilmaz recover from an international break injury to return v Celtic.
But on the left-hand side the dilemma over whether to start the returning Abdallah Sima remains a real headscratcher – at least for everyone but the Belgian.
The Rangers manager gave an update on his squad ahead of the Scottish Premiership clash with Celtic, which will be the third Old Firm meeting of the season.
Philippe Clement talks Ridvan Yilmaz injury & more
First, Clement was asked whether or not Ridvan Yilmaz would be available for the clash on Sunday.
In an overall squad update, the Rangers boss claimed any decision could come down to the final minutes heading into the match with Celtic.
“(Ridvan) is not sure yet so we’re going to see tomorrow or even on Sunday to make a decision around that,” said Clement. “The rest, everybody is available who was available the last game.
“So the only three players out is Ryan Jack, Danilo and Oscar Cortes.”
When asked about the fitness of Ryan Jack, Clement said: “He’s been training but not enough with the team for the moment to be sure that he’s in the squad. But he’s been training yes.”
Rangers won’t be the only ones with an eye on the situation surrounding the midfielder, who will be eyeing a call up to Euro 2024 with Scotland.
Finally, Philippe Clement revealed that whilst Abdallah Sima is not ready to play 90 minutes, he’s already made his mind up on whether or not to start the forward.
But Big Phil won’t be giving such details away in a pre-match press conference; he’s not that daft.
“(Sima) is fit enough to start but not to play 90 minutes,” said Clement. “It depends what part of the game you want him on the pitch, so that’s my decision.
“Yes I have a preference, do you want to know more? I don’t think I’m going to do that today.”
Rangers manager ready for Celtic six-pointer
Given that Rangers at one point had as many as 11 injury doubts in the squad, fans can take Ridvan Yilmaz being the only major doubt as a positive.
Well, that’s excluding the trio who categorically won’t make the match.
Speaking about the game, which Rangers go into as slight favourites given the home advantage and league position, Philippe Clement was calm and composed.
Describing the match as a ‘six-pointer’, it’s clear the Belgian understands that this match is a biggie but he’s stressed that it is not the decisive game of the season.
“It’s always a big game,” said Clement. “It’s a six-point game. That we know. We have another one in a few weeks also in that way.
“But it’s not yet a decisive game so whoever wins is not champion. It’s not like that.
“I’m happy with what I’ve seen about my team after the last Old Firm. So after that game we’ve had 11 games until now. We’ve took 30 points out of 33. We could’ve took more points in the Motherwell game, so it could’ve been better than that.
“And we scored more goals than Celtic in that period and less goals against, so that’s really good consistency but it’s not a guarantee for anything.
“It’s a really big step forward from the period at the beginning of the season, also my first part of the season, that there has been more consistency, better results, a bigger squad, more people ready to do the job. So I see my team growing month-by-month and now this is the next challenge.”
Rangers will host Celtic in the Old Firm derby at Ibrox this coming Sunday (07/04) with a victory putting the Ibrox side top of the table by two points with a game in hand.
The spare game will be played against Dundee this coming Wednesday (10/04), although there are fresh doubts surrounding the Dens Park pitch.
