Philippe Clement claims it was 'impossible' to start one Rangers ace vs Dundee, hails star's replacement

Yesterday at 03:00 PM

With Rangers balancing domestic and European exploits – not to mention the Scottish League Cup final – Philippe Clement always knew that rotation would be a required.

So when John Souttar picked up an injury against Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League – the Scotland international is facing another couple of weeks on the sidelines – the depth of Rangers’ defensive options has suddenly come under the microscope.

But as Rangers kept a fourth clean sheet in a row against Tony Docherty’s team [Vaclav Cerny scored the winner at Ibrox moments into the second-half], a Souttar-deprived backline restricted Dundee to very little.

Liam Kelly, in from the off as Jack Butland pulled out in the warm-up, did not make a single save across the 90 minutes.

That is, in-part, testament to the way Dujon Sterling has adapted to a new-look central defensive role. The former Chelsea youngster has played as a right-back, a left-back, a midfielder and as a winger since crossing the border back in 2023.

Sterling had not lined up at centre-half, however, until now at least.

Philippe Clement explains Dujon Sterling start as Rangers beat Dundee

Clement, explaining his team selection in the build up to Rangers’ narrow 1-0 win over Dundee, admitted he opted to introduce Sterling in order to give Leon Balogun a rest.

At the age of 36, it would perhaps be a bit much to expect the veteran defender to start once again.

“It is crucial because John will be out for several weeks, so you need to look for solutions there,” Clement told the media.

“Dujon has been doing well. Physically, he is in better shape. He came on in the last game in that position and it is now [important] for him to get experience. So that is why I start with him in that way now.

“It is impossible for Robin and Leon to play every three days. We have Kingy also, a young talented player. But Dujon is doing well so that’s why I chose him.”

The aforementioned ‘Kingy’ – or Leon King, as he is better known – has not played a single minute of Scottish Premiership football this season. The 20-year-old wasn’t even in the squad as Dundee travelled to Ibrox, with Balogun the only centre-half on the bench.

So while Clement was keen to suggest that King is still present and available, the fact that he isn’t even making the matchday roster amid the absences of Souttar and Neraysho Kasanwirjo seems to point to a likely exit in the near future.

Clement delighted as Rangers move up to second place

“The important thing is the three points and it was well deserved. Defensively, we did a good job,” Clement would go on to say at full-time, Rangers climbing above Aberdeen while reducing the gap to league leaders Celtic to eight points.

“We always want to give our fans more than 1-0. We want to score three, four. The crossbar didn’t help today.

“We could have done better, scoring more goals and being more efficient in the final third, especially in the second-half. Then, we kill the belief of the opponent but its a well deserved victory and that’s also very good.

“It is a win we deserve. We had the ball the whole game and then its watching for the transitions of Dundee. In the end, Liam Kelly did not have to make a single save.”