Jermain Defoe among players DROPPED from Rangers squad for Europa League group stage with Benfica, Lech Poznan and Standard Liege

Jermain Defoe will miss out on Rangers Europa League group stage games, according to the UEFA squad list

The Ibrox boss has finalised his squad for the European campaign group stage games against Benfica, Standard Liege and Lech Poznan.

Included in the pool will be new midfield signing Bongani Zungu and injured forward Kemar Roofe – but both Defoe and Jones will be reserved for domestic duties only.

Both players have featured in the qualifiers with Defoe finding the net against Lincoln Red Imps in Rangers’ opening qualifier.

However summer signings Roofe and Cedric Itten will join Alfredo Morelos, Brandon Barker and Greg Stewart – who also featured in Gibraltar – as Rangers group stage strikeforce.

Jones’ role in the Rangers squad appeared to be limited earlier this year but he burst back into contention with an impressive performance after coming in from the cold as a surprise inclusion for a 5-1 SPFL Premiership win against Motherwell last month and regained his place for the 2-0 win over Ross County on Sunday.

Defoe has just returned to the first-team squad following a hamstring injury picked up in a pre-season friendly with the Steelmen at Ibrox.

Another to miss out is George Edmundson, who also featured in the successful qualifying campaign.

The squad of 24 is again supplemented by a ‘B-list’ – a selection of youth players born on, or after, 1 January 1999 and who have been eligible to play for the club for two years in an uninterrupted spell.