Philippe Clement gives Ross McCausland and Dujon Sterling injury updates amid rising woes as boss wishes he was a Doctor

Given the volume of health-related inquiries that Rangers manager Philippe Clement must field on a daily basis, it’s surprising that he lacks a medical degree.

Seldom does a week pass that the Ibrox manager isn’t asked to predict when one of his injured stars will return. Dujon Sterling and Ross McCausland raised concerns last night when they both hobbled off at Easter Road. As the Gers’ never-ending list of injuries keeps growing, it has also included Todd Cantwell, Danilo, Abdallah Sima, Kieran Dowell, Oscar Cortes, and Scott Wright recently.

As usual, Clement stated that questions about injury diagnoses should be sent to an Ibrox employee with greater training. However, he was pleased to discuss the improved lung capacity his team is demonstrating as they keep up the battle on all fronts. Even though Leith’s performance was lethargic following Thursday’s demanding Europa League encounter in Lisbon, the Light Blues still had enough left in them to defeat Nick Montgomery’s fired-up Hibs in an exciting Scottish Cup quarterfinal match.

That’s mostly because of the intense training camp in January that Gers underwent in Spain, which, according to Clement, was exactly what the doctor ordered. “It is evident to all that there has been a significant shift between four months ago and now,” he remarked.

It’s evident in every team statistic as well. We are not where I would like them to be, but in order to get there, I need to prepare them for what they missed. As you can see, not many players are truly prepared for what I want, which is a competitive team that practices three days a week with that level of intensity.

“There are some growing in that direction, such Connor Goldson, John Souttar, John Lundstram, and James Tavernier. However, I want the entire team to be like that, and in order to do so, you need further training, which I am unable to do right now due to our busy schedule. We achieve all these outcomes because of the teamwork and unity among all members who put in a lot of effort for the group, regardless of their role.

It might be difficult for Clement to assemble a squad large enough for Thursday’s second-leg shootout versus Benfica. The utility player Sterling, who can fill in at any position, has been a huge help to the Ibrox coach lately in solving problems. However, after hobbling off with a hamstring issue, the defender-turned-winger is now a serious doubt for this week’s return match against the Portuguese powerhouses.

Young player Ross McCausland was sent on to replace the former Chelsea player, but he did not see out the match either, limping off after Motherwell’s Dan Casey made a vicious tackle. This was only a week after he had to be replaced.

When asked for an update, their manager said, “I am not a doctor.” “Sometimes this season, it is unfortunate.

“Although we have a really fantastic doctor who is always quite straightforward in his judgement, sometimes I would like to be a doctor. However, neither he nor I can say just now.

“In the coming two days, we’ll study them to determine what’s going on. Saying something is serious or not serious based on false information puts me in danger. I want to speak the truth at all times.

Following Clement’s forced rewrite of plans to launch Ryan Jack in the capital, those Easter Road catastrophes transpired. The Scotland midfielder only played for 13 minutes in Thursday’s 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light, but it was enough time for him to sustain another injury.

“I cannot yet say how long he will be out,” Clement stated, “but he took a knock against Benfica and has a muscle problem.” Regarding how long, I am unable to comment. Naturally, I wanted him back to give him minutes today, but that didn’t work out. We’ll see on Thursday, but I’m not sure what will happen in the coming weeks.

However, Clement knew full well that his club was up against a Hibs team that was coming off a five-game winning streak. However, goals from Lundstram and Fabio Silva were sufficient to overcome the nine-man hosts and guarantee the Viaplay Cup champions’ return to Hampden.

“You knew beforehand that it was a difficult place to come to,” he remarked. They had a whole week to prepare for this match tactically, intellectually, and physically after a demanding European night that used a lot of energy against a team as good as Benfica. They have also been playing well lately.

“We played a really mature game, and we knew it was going to be difficult. You deserve to win because you have the majority of the opportunities and possession. In certain tense situations, my team maintained composure, which was equally crucial.

Clement trusted Cole McKinnon to come off the bench against Benfica, so he offered the young player another opportunity to play as a substitute. “I’m very positive about Cole; if not, you wouldn’t have given him minutes against Benfica, and you wouldn’t have come in today either,” he stated.

“Although he is still a young player, he has demonstrated a really good work ethic and mentality in training. He has also been improving each month, which is encouraging. My goal is to try and win every game—that’s why it’s crucial.

However, it’s equally critical to me to help young athletes advance by giving them opportunities and allowing them to mature. Young Scottish players should be given opportunities and allowed to develop if Scottish football is to succeed.

“We need to investigate it for our European team, since we were missing a number of players due to either a lack of Scottish players on the roster or the need to purchase them, but we may have other priorities with our funds. One of my goals is to graduate players from the academy who have the potential to play in the Rangers first team. Alternatively, we must develop them ourselves over the course of the next few years.

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