Rangers take Europa League shot in arm from 'dangerous situation' at Athletic Bilbao that takes edge off Euro foes

Athletic Bilbao could be without key attacker Inaki Williams for their crunch Europa League quarter-final second leg with Rangers after he suffered a hamstring strain - with manager Ernesto Valverde left sweating over the player’s fitness.

The La Liga outfit returned to winning ways on Sunday following a run of three straight goalless draws - including against 10-man Rangers at Ibrox in the first leg on Thursday night - with a 3-1 comeback win over Rayo Vallecano.

However, Williams took some off the gloss of the scoreline after being forced off in injury time amid complaints of a hamstring strain, with Bilbao now facing an anxious wait to discover if the Ghanaian international will be fit to face Barry Ferguson’s side this week.

Head coach Valverde revealed they will assess him closely ahead of the game, stating: “We’ll have to wait and see. It’s true that he had a slight discomfort and I didn’t want him to continue just in case. We had to avoid a dangerous situation, so I decided to tell him to leave the pitch without a substitute to replace him. If you’re on the pitch, there’s always a chance that you make a run and the problem can be bigger.”

Bilbao had endured a goal scoring drought that lasted 334 minutes courtesy of a Oihan Sancet penalty, with the striker adding a second in the closing stages with Nico Williams also getting on the scoresheet.

Valverde reflected: “It was always clear we would get back to scoring goals. Sometimes, it just doesn’t go your way when you are trying to score goals, but we kept going. Leading up to the game against Rangers, what happened against Rayo Vallecano was important to us because a comeback win with some beautifully crafted goals makes people a little happier. But we won’t go into the game with overconfidence.”

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Meanwhile, Valverde admits he’s been left baffled by the criticism his team have received in Spain after failing to beat the Light Blues at Ibrox - despite having a man advantage for almost 80 minutes of the clash following Robin Propper’s dismissal.

Speaking ahead of the return leg, the former Barcelona boss has hit back after derogatory comments were aimed at his side. He questioned: “I don’t understand, we haven’t been successful? If we score the penalty, it’s a different story.”

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