The news from Philippe Clement, speaking at his press conference ahead of Rangers’ Scottish Cup semi-final clash with Hearts on Sunday afternoon, was pretty mixed.
The good news is that one of Rangers’ most impressive performers over the last few months will be back ‘available’ again, and will have a place in the matchday squad at the very least at Hampden Park.
Ok, Mohamed Diomande was not at his industrious best in that 3-3 Old Firm derby thriller with Celtic a fortnight ago. But it may be no coincidence that, in the midfielder’s absence, Rangers dropped four points from very winnable albeit away fixtures against Dundee and Ross County, Clement’s hopes of a league triumph in his first season in Scotland diminishing considerably over the last few days.
Diomande may be a little raw. He may be prone to the odd misplaced pass. But with John Lundstram’s form dropping off a cliff, with Todd Cantwell struggling to influence things from a deeper role at Dundee, the Nordsjaelland loanee’s return to full fitness will come as a relief.
Philippe Clement provides Rangers injury update
“Diomande will be available,” Clement says, as reported by the club’s official YouTube channel.
The former Monaco, Club Brugge and Genk coach was not quite so positive, however, when asked about the status of Ridvan Yilmaz.
The all-action Turkey international is another player Rangers have missed during the last few matchdays, with Borna Barisic a fading force and the right-footed Dujon Sterling obviously more comfortable on the opposite flank.
Sterling, who was brutal in his assessment of Rangers’ recent form at his own press conference, may have to continue on the left, however, with Clement admitting that Yilmaz is facing a race against time to feature against Steven Naismith’s Hearts at Hampden Park.
Race againt time for Ridvan Yilmaz
“Ridvan is still a question mark for Sunday,” Clement adds.
“Together, we had some bumps along the road (in terms of injuries). We made a good assessment in the club about how to avoid that in the future. It’s a growing situation. Kemar (Roofe) played his first minutes in how many months (vs Dundee)? Abda (Sima) came back after an injury or two or three months. THat’s a little bit of rhythm that you miss.
“Tom Lawrence hasn’t played that many minutes in a game since October. Kieran Dowell came back after an injury. So a lot of (injury) stories.”
Clement’s admission that Rangers are working hard behind the scenes to rectify those injury issues will, obviously, be music to the ears of a fanbase who have seen the season threaten to implode without a couple of key players in recent outings.
