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John Souttar shows Rangers benefits to new way of working but further steps needed to make squad 'more robust'
The vast number of injuries piling high at Ibrox was a problem Philippe Clement promised to get to the bottom of this summer.
But yet again, the luckless Rangers boss was forced to throw another name on top. This time, it was Tom Lawrence as it was confirmed the Welshman is the latest Gers ace to check into the casualty clinic having hobbled off at Hampden. He now faces a six week lay-off following a knock sustained during Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final win over Motherwell.
Frankly, losing a key man like the former Derby skipper is the last thing his Belgian gaffer needs as Clement battles for his job. The under-pressure manager made cutting down the club’s never-ending fitness woes a priority ahead of the new campaign. But already he’s seen the likes of Danilo, Oscar Cortes, Ridvan Yilmaz, Rabbi Matondo laid low this term - with Lawrence the latest.
However, as damaging as those injuries have been to a team nine points adrift in the title race, Clement is just relieved the pile up hasn’t hit the heights of last year’s. He said: “We need to be realistic about that.
“I don't think there's one squad in the world where there are no injuries. That’s a utopia. In periods yes, but last season we had in a lot of moments 12 players out. That's never been the case this season.
“So there are changes made in staff, in the way of working, in a lot of things. And we start to see also the benefits of that.
“For example, John Souttar in his career never played so many minutes as he's been doing now. Never. Before he always had injuries in those moments and there are other examples also in that way.
"So there are good steps made. We still have to make steps to make the team in general more robust. I'm happy to see some players back. Nico [Raskin] last season, he missed a lot of games. So we're happy that we have several of those players back.
"Ridvan Yilmaz is also now training with the squad. Rabbi [Matondo] starts to train with the squad. The more players we have back, the better we will be with games every three days.
“Because it's a lot of pressure on the bodies in that way to perform every time 200 percent every three days. We will need all of them.”
Clement could do with Lawrence as they face up to Olympiacos in the Europa League. The 30-year-old has been in decent form this term, contributing five goals in 15 appearances. But he’s been sidelined after limping off just before half-time on Sunday with a thigh strain.
Clement said: “Tom got injured in the cup semi-final, like you saw. So he will be out for several weeks, 4-6 weeks. Yeah, of course it’s a big blow. he's been important for the team. He took the role really well.
“This season he scored several really important goals, but not only that, also in the play, also defensive-wise. But it gives chances to other players to prove themselves. It's like that in football.
“It's part of football also. We don't have many (injuries) for the moment, touch wood. We want to continue in that way - with all the squad to be available.”
Lawrence is out of contention but Clement is hoping to see Dujon Sterling play a bigger role in the weeks ahead. The former Chelsea kid’s ability to plug gaps certainly came in handy last term as he filled in for Clement’s absent crocks.
Signed as a right-back, he made telling contributions across the back four and also central midfield and on the right wing. It was expected he’d have just as big role to perform this term.
But while he’s registered 15 appearances so far, only one has seen the 25-year-old go the full 90 minutes with a series of niggling knocks holding back the utility ace’s progress. That didn’t stop the club from rewarding him with a new four-year deal last month.
But that contract came with a challenge as Sterling’s boss urged him to prove he can be more than just a versatile utility man, saying: “You also need to show them that you can play 10 games in a row in [one] position.”
Sterling has taken the first steps towards that after returning to action with minutes off the bench against St Mirren, Aberdeen and Motherwell. But Clement wants more.
Ahead of Thursday's game, he added: “I'm not sure that he's ready now for 90 minutes in games. So that he needs to prove the next weeks. He's been struggling two months with not a big injury, but something that stopped him from really sprinting. He’s not been his normal self, like it was last season.
“Because of that he didn't have the (fitness) level that he had before. That's why he played less minutes. Working with the medical staff we found a solution how to solve it. It's solved now.
"He feels better and that's why he played better also. It's normal that he will get more minutes if he plays better. Those are the rules in football, in the squad. It's about proving yourself in the training and in the games when you come in that you're ready.
“I hope we can get back the Dujon that we saw last season. Because in the beginning of the season he almost didn't play. I was surprised when I came in the first weeks that he didn't play.”
