'Bit of anger': Rangers explain curious Vaclav Cerny-Danilo 'substitution' incident and player 'who can go far'

Rangers interim head coach Barry Ferguson has cleared up a curious incident involving Vaclav Cerny and Danilo during the Ibrox club’s Europa League triumph against Fenerbahce.

Rangers reached the quarter-finals after defeating the Turkish side on Thursday night in Govan to set up a tie with Athletic Bilbao. However, there was a moment of controversy during half-time in extra-time centering around Czech winger Cerny and Brazilian forward Danilo.

It was announced that Cerny, who was receiving a massage for cramp, was to be replaced by Danilo. The switch was swiftly cancelled, though, when Cerny leapt up and confronted Ferguson to say that he was fit enough to carry on. This led to Danilo thumping the dugout in frustration, with the striker left in cold storage for the rest of the match.

Interim Rangers head coach Barry Ferguson celebrates with Vaclav Cerny after beating Fenerbahce. | SNS Group

Cerny went on to score one of the penalties in the shoot-out and ahead of facing Celtic in Sunday’s Old Firm match, Ferguson went to explain what happened.

“You've probably seen it,” said Ferguson. “I thought he'd cramped and he was gone. I got the message that that was the case. I've seen him getting rubbed, obviously, on the pitch. I mentioned to him and his attitude was no, I'm not coming off.

“He's been a real dangerous player for me. He was good to go. It was the right decision because he scored one of the penalties.

“Listen, there was an incident where a player (Danilo) wasn't happy. I would rather my players be like that. A wee bit of anger. That's what I have to see. Don't be happy if you're not playing. That's just the way football operates.

“You know what it was like - it was chaos at that time. We're going into the final 15 minutes of extra time. But listen, he managed to get through that and obviously slotted a penalty home.”

Ferguson also opened up on another of his players in Nicolas Raskin after the midfielder was called into the Belgium senior squad for the first time in his career.

“I saw Nico and told him that's the difference that I have made to him in two and a half weeks!” joked Ferguson. “Nico, when I first came in, I think he has so many good attributes. Also, there's a few things he has to work on. He's open to that. I like that. It’s the same for a number of my players.

Danilo was left on the bench against the Turkish side. | SNS Group

“I'll spend time with them individually. It's just that Nico has had a lot of football - I can't get him, he’s probably happy about that. But I can't get him one to one. I'm delighted for him.

“He’s had a run out of games where he's been injury free. I need to see more. I think there's more in him. I really do believe there's more in him. I'm going to try and squeeze every single bit out of him I can.

“I think he can go far in the game.”