'In the squad': Philippe Clement says Rangers ace could play his first game in three months

12/20/2024 01:00 PM

Philippe Clement believes there are a handful of reasons why Rangers will welcome Dundee to Ibrox this weekend with a renewed sense of self-confidence.

Firstly, the Clement thinks the likes of Hamza Igamane and Jefte are settling into life in Scottish football after arriving over the summer from Morocco and Brazil.

Igamane maintained his ‘flying’ form against Tottenham in the Europa League – five of his six Rangers goals have come in the last half-dozen games – while Jefte grows in influence down the left-hand side.

Philippe Clement also claims that Rangers’ more long-serving players – in particular James Tavernier – are back at their best.

He points to a team ‘gelling’ at last after so many ins and outs, a ‘really big evolution’ on the physical side of the game, and the returns of several players providing some much-needed depth during a gruelling run of fixtures.

Danilo is putting the injuries which have disrupted his Scottish football career in the rearview mirror. Clement lauded the ‘warrior’ Ridvan Yilmaz, meanwhile, after the Turkish international recovered from a three-month lay-off.

Oscar Cortes will also be part of the Rangers roster for the first time since September when Tony Docherty’s Dundee team arrive in Glasgow tomorrow afternoon.

Philippe Clement confirms Oscar Cortes available for Rangers

Cortes has played only 111 minutes of senior football since returning for a second spell at Rangers.

Though the RC Lens loanee – who can be picked up permanently in 2025 for a rumoured £4.5 million – came through a clash with Celtic’s B team unscathed on Monday night.

As such, the Colombian winger will be in contention to make a first Premiership appearance since Tom Lawrence scored the winner at Tannadice in mid-September.

“He will be in the squad and we will see about getting minutes,” Clement says when asked about Cortes. “It depends also on the game and what it needs.

“He’s not starting the game. He’s not there yet. So we will see in the next couple of weeks [if he is ready to return to the XI].

“As [players such as Oscar Cortes] come back to their full rhythm, we need to win all the games. So that stays the most important thing.”

Cortes helps Rangers’ youngsters beat Celtic in cup final

The quicksilver 21-year-old showed few signs of rust as Rangers’ reserves beat Celtic to secure the Glasgow Cup this week.

B team coach David McCallum praised Cortes’ relentless pressing as he forced The Hoops goalkeeper into a costly error early on, nicking the ball inside the penalty area before squaring for Paul Nsio to score the opener in a dramatic 3-2 win.

While Lawrence and Rabbi Matondo are still on the sidelines, Rangers suddenly have plenty to pick from in the attacking areas.

Vaclav Cerny is likely to keep his place on the right against Dundee. Ianis Hagi, Mo Diomande, Nedim Bajrami and Danilo are all competing to start in that number ten role behind the centre-forward, while Cortes will contend for the left-sided role once he is fit enough to be included from the off.

“You see that the team is growing and you see it in everything,” Clement adds. “You see on the physical part, you see a really, really big evolution the last couple of months. But also technically, the team gelling together and understanding the movements more.

“We’re getting more players available. That’s also a massive thing with playing every three days. So a lot of things are going in the right direction.”