It’s hard to Phil Europa squad rota
Ibrox, today, KO 3pm FRUSTRATED Philippe Clement admits he faced an agonising decision after being forced to leave new Rangers recruit Oscar Cortes out of his Europa League squad.
The Colombian kid arrived on loan from Lens before the window shut on Thursday.
And that was well before last night’s deadline for Gers to register new signings ahead of their Europa League last 16 tie.
But with Clement only able to make three changes to the UEFA line-up originally picked by his predecessor Michael Beale, it’s left the Belgian boss with a painful choice.
The Ibrox gaffer has decided to recall Ridvan Yilmaz after the Turkish international’s impressive return to form, while new boys Fabio Silva and Mohamed Diomande have also been added.
But that’s left no space for Cortes, with Leon Balogun and Kieran Dowell also missing out.
Clement confessed it was a horrible experience as he said: “If you look at finding a balance, then Ridvan needs to be in.
“You need two full-backs, that was a problem in the first round. If there was a problem with Borna Barisic we didn’t have any leftback. That was a difficult point on that European list that I’ve submitted.
“Ridvan will come on the list so that means Leon Balogun, Kieran Dowell and Cortes cannot be on the list. That hurts me.
“We’ve been puzzling for hours with the staff these past few days and you always come to the same conclusions. You cannot keep the balance unless you make these changes.”
Cortes won’t feature when Gers return to European action in March.
But he is in line to make his Ibrox bow when the Light Blues host Livingston at Ibrox today.