Rangers team news vs Dynamo Kyiv and predicted XI as Clement juggles headache over transfer recruit

Less than 48 hours after watching his side clinch their first Premiership win of the new season, Rangers boss Philippe Clement is busy preparing his squad for their vital winner-takes-all Champions League second leg showdown against Dynamo Kyiv.

With the third qualifying round tie finely poised at 1-1 after the first-leg, the Ibrox side will be determined to complete the job against the Ukrainian outfit and progress to the play-off round. But Clement could be without one experienced central defender for the match. The Belgian confirmed: “We have one doubt tomorrow form the squad at the weekend, Leon Balogun.

“He felt something at the end of the game. He didn’t train (on Monday) and we will see how he is. The rest all came out well from the game. It’s a really short turnaround. Today was the second day so in training it’s more about recovery because it’s still less than 48 hours after the game.

“It’s about making the choices on who to start, known that for several positions there can be interchange and it’s about who to put in at that moment. You need to make good decision on what you need at the beginning of the game and also at the end of the game, and extra time is a possibility too. There are interesting choices to make.”

One of those interesting choices facing Clement is whether he opts to start Czech winger Vaclav Cerny from the outset, with the Wolfsburg loanee stating he’s ready to make his mark after two hugely important contributions in as many games. Not only did he provide the assist for Cyriel Dessers last-gasp leveller in Poland during the first-leg last week, the 26-year-old got off the mark for his new club on his first start by netting what turned out to be the match-winner against Motherwell on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Clement also updated fans on Hamza Igamane’s progress. The £1.7million Moroccan striker has yet to be named in a matchday squad following his arrival from FAR Rabat in his homeland earlier this summer, but has been spotted alongside his new teammates at Auchenhowie in recent days.

“Hamza is doing part of the training with the group, so step by step he is going to the physical level that we need in training and later in the games. He is showing a lot of interesting things with the ball, which we saw from him in the games we saw in Morocco. He’s settling in well and with the language he is starting to learn his first English words. He’s feeling really happy and grateful to be here. He’s very determined to become a big player here.”

Igamane was included in the Gers’ European squad list for this fixture, but it’s expected the match will come too soon for the 21-year-old. Should Balogun also miss out, summer signing Clinton Nsiala has been taking part in full training with the first-team after featuring twice for the B-team last week and could enter the mix.

Predicted XI: Jack Butland, James Tavernier, John Souttar, Robin Propper, Jefte, Connor Barron, Mohamed Diomande, Tom Lawrence, Vaclav Cerny, Ross McCausland, Cyriel Dessers.