Philippe Clement drops major Rangers selection hint as he offers update on injured stars and transfer plans

Rangers manager Philippe Clement believes the recent spate of injuries at Ibrox has affected his side’s form ahead of Thursday night’s Scottish Premiership clash with Dundee.

The Belgian boss saw his team twice drop the lead against Hibs at the weekend as they drew 3-3 at Easter Road. Now 13 points behind Celtic at the top of the table, Rangers go travel to Dens Park desperate to take all three points following a three-game winless run on the road.

“We were very disappointed after the Hibs game,” the Rangers boss told Sky Sports. “We played a good game, played good football and scored three really good goals. But then we conceded two goals from set-pieces, which I am not happy with, losing those types of duels. We have the penalty story also. Clearly afterwards, everyone who was a footballer before said it was not a penalty, and that was feeling also.

“At the end, you lose two points. If you win that game 3-2, or 3-1, you can have a really good feeling about the football the team played, and an away victory against a team who is performing really well over the last few weeks. Now it is disappointment and moving onto the next game, and to do better and take the three points.”

Rangers have a number of injury worries ahead of the visit to Dundee this week. | PA

A 2-1 defeat at St Mirren on Boxing Day was followed up by a 2-2 draw with Motherwell just days later, and while an impressive 3-0 win over Celtic at Ibrox brought some respite, the pulsating draw at Hibs last weekend saw Rangers’ age-old problems rear their head. Clement admits his stretched squad is being tested to the limit as he hinted at the possibility of some of his younger stars being handed a chance at Dundee.

“At the beginning of the season, we had a lot of players who had to adapt to a new club and all the principles. We struggled more to keep a balance in the team, whereas later on we had a good balance in the team and were getting a lot of clean sheets, but were struggling more to create open chances - that has been better the last two months, we have created a lot of chances but we’ve now got a lot of injuries, with five maybe six in the defence. There’s not one team in the world that keeps real stability that way.

“It is creating stability again with new players, young players, some who will play for the first time at this level. So that is a challenge now, the positive is that these guys get a chance to show themselves and get the experience - and sometimes you get positive surprises, and that is what we want from that.”

Jack Butland, James Tavernier, Leon Balogun, John Souttar and Dujon Sterling have all picked up in injuries in recent weeks, and Clement admits his rearguard is growing more threadbare by the week, as he addressed the club’s transfer plans in the wake of a defensive crisis. “We still will miss Jack, miss Tav (James Tavernier), Kasanwirjo, Balogun and John Souttar. We will see about Dujon Sterling tomorrow, but it is still a doubt.

Rangers CEO Patrick Stewart is set to update fans on the club’s transfer plans in the coming days.

“The new CEO will come out in the next couple of days to give more explanation around the plans for January and the future for the club. We have discussed that (the January transfer window) these responsibilities are divided in the club, because in this last six months I had to talk about everything, including the budget that I don’t have any influence in.

“Patrick Stewart will speak about that (January plans), but I am realistic that January is always a difficult window to get good deals, because players that are doing well, teams don’t want to let them go. Like ourselves, like every team in the world. We will address that in the next couple of days.”