Rangers reveal reason for shock Vaclav Cerny absence against Aberdeen and explain why Jefte has been benched

Philippe Clement addresses star winger’s omission

Rangers manager Philippe Clement has revealed the reason behind the shock absence of Vaclav Cerny from his squad for the blockbuster match against Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

The in-form Czech winger was a glaring omission from the team list posted by the Ibrox side ahead of kick-off for the William Hill Premiership showdown. The on-loan Wolfsburg man is a major loss having been Rangers' biggest goal threat in recent weeks, scoring five goals in his last four appearances including doubles against St Johnstone and FCSB.

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Clement explained that the 27-year-old has picked up a muscle injury that has ruled him out of one of the biggest matches of the season so far as Rangers look to close the six-point gap on Jimmy Thelin's second-placed Dons.

"He has a small injury," Clement told Rangers TV. "Nothing very serious but the medical staff said that he was not able to play today. "They tried everything to get him fit but it was a really short time after the [St Mirren] game towards this game. Unluckily it's not possible. He's been very important in the last four games with five goals but also a lot of effort for the team. But it's a normal thing. He played with the national team also, he played a lot of games, so it's normal they get a niggle in between and will miss some things. But of course you don't want it in a game of this magnitude."

Clement has made five changes to his starting XI from the weekend 2-1 win over St Mirren with James Tavernier, John Souttar, Tom Lawrence, Ross McCausland and Cyriel Dessers all coming in for Jefte, Robin Propper, Mohamed Diomande, Hamza Igamane and Cerny. Midfielder Ianis Hagi returns from suspension and is on the bench. Neraysho Kasanwirjo keeps his place but moves to left-back as Clement explained the reason behind dropping his 20-year-old Brazilian full-back to the bench.

"Jefte played also a lot of games and you saw also the last game he started to get more tired so we need to protect him in that way also," he said. "He never played so many minutes in a team before. He is still young and we need to build his body in that way so he's fresh to come in.

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"Nera played a good game again on the weekend and everytime he played until now it was good - on the right side, central or on the left side. So I want to see that on the left side today and then we can see in one moment if we put Jefte in or not."

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