Shock Rangers absence explained after Philippe Clement tried to appease Ibrox fans
12/23/2024 07:05 AM
The absence of Jack Butland from Rangers' weekend win over Dundee turned heads as the Ibrox goalkeeper pulled out of the side in the warm-up.
Liam Kelly ended a lifelong wait to make his Rangers debut and the Scotland goalkeeper kept a clean sheet as Rangers ran out 1-0 winners in the Scottish Premiership.
But with Jack Butland missing his first game of the season at Ibrox, there were fears over something serious ruling the Rangers goalkeeper out of the running.
With Philippe Clement coy over the situation come full time, images uploaded to Jack Butland's Instagram show precisely why the Rangers stopper missed the clash with Dundee.
Jack Butland missed Rangers clash due to 'personal reasons'
Speaking after the win over Dundee, Rangers manager Philippe Clement insisted that people 'don't need to worry about Jack Butland'.
That's despite the fact the Rangers goalkeeper had pulled out of the Ibrox club's team to face Dundee before the match kicked off in Glasgow.
Explaining that Butland had missed the match for 'personal reasons', Clement revealed that the Rangers goalkeeper would be back between the sticks in time for the Boxing Day trip to St Mirren.
The Rangers manager then suggested that it was not his place to explain the absence.
"People don't need to worry about Jack," said Clement. "It was for personal reasons and really short-term.
"Jack will be back next game. But he probably doesn't want me to tell what it was about."
Rangers goalkeeper absence explained
Jack Butland has since cleared up the mystery absence by sharing an image of himself holding his newborn baby.
Still in his Rangers training gear, Butland had rushed off to hospital to be present at the birth as his wife delivers another child.
Liam Kelly might be gutted to have just got a taste of the action at Rangers, with Butland now set to return to the Rangers fold for the trip to St Mirren.
Jack Butland joined Rangers at the expiration of his contract with Crystal Palace last summer, having spent the season on loan at Manchester United.
Butland, 31, has made 27 appearances for Rangers so far this season.
