Philippe Clement turns Rangers scientist vs Union Saint-Gilloise as unusual position change for star detailed
Rangers manager Philippe Clement has named his starting XI to face Union Saint-Gilloise in the UEFA Europa League
Leon King was handed his first Rangers start of the season against Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League this evening - with manager Philippe Clement explaining his reasons behind the player’s key positional change.
Despite looking as though his Ibrox future was all-but over earlier this month, the 21-year-old defender slotted in to an unfamiliar right-back role for the final League phase clash with the Belgian outfit at Ibrox, but lasted just 13 minutes before being forced off with a head knock that appeared to leave him with double vision.
King, who has only made four substitute appearances this term, had been shifted across from his usual centre-half position, with Clement opting to push skipper James Tavernier into a more central role instead owing to his vast experience. But his early withdrawal left his manager with little option but to turn to right-sided attacker Ross McCausland to fill in in King’s absence.
Clement made two changes to his Light Blues side, with both of those enforced. Clinton Nsiala and Ianis Hagi are not registered for the club’s Euro squad list, meaning King and fit-again Vaclav Cerny were given the nod.
Speaking pre-match, Clement told Rangers TV: “Vaclav had a small problem but it was better the last couple of days. I’m not sure we can keep him on the pitch for 90 minutes, we will see. But he was ready to start. For the moment, we’re missing six defenders; Dujon Sterling, Nana (Kasanwirjo), Leon Balogun, Rafa (Fernandes), Clinton (Nsiala) and Ridvan Yilmaz.
“So that’s a lot and Kingy has been training well. He’s going to do a good job. I make one change, Kingy will play right full-back and Tav will play central because Tav did this role really well against Man United. We need experience in the back because they play with two strikers and they’re always on the front-foot to find these two strikers fast. So I want a little bit more experience centrally.”
John Souttar is also back in the matchday squad for the first time since picking up a calf problem against Tottenham Hotspur in mid-December, with Clement adding: “It’s a big boost. Of course, he’s been out a long time. We cannot expect miracles directly but he’s ready for in between 15-30 minutes. So we’ll see during the game. He only trained twice so he doesn’t have his normal rhythm but he needs to get that back because he was a major player for us during the first months of the season, and for Scotland also.”