Philippe Clement explains Rangers decision to drop Cyriel Dessers against Nice
Rangers manager Philippe Clement has explained his decision to drop Cyriel Dessers for the crunch clash against Nice in the Europa League - stating that Hamza Igamane needs the minutes to develop for the much-alluded to 'rebuild'.
Igamane was given the surprise nod to mark just his third start of the season for the Ibrox outfit, with Dessers having been the striker on the teamsheet in the majority of Rangers' games so far in the current campaign, with Nedim Bajrami and Vaclav Cerny supporting him on the wings.
It does raise doubts as to Dessers' plans for the future, especially having been dropped for such a big game - but Gers boss Clement stated that it would be an interesting one to watch, detailing his curiosity on how the Moroccan would react.
READ MORE: Rangers fans face Nice nightmare as tickets abruptly CANCELLED 24 hours before Europa League clash
Speaking on TNT Sports, the Belgian boss stated that Igamane had been drafted into play against Nice ahead of Dessers with one eye on the development of their young star - perhaps hinting at the potential replacement of the Nigerian striker. He said: "Like everybody knows, we've started a new project a few months ago with a lot of young talent, Hamza [Igamane] is taking good steps.
"This is his first time at this stage so I'm really curious to see how he reacts in that way, but it's also the project we need to do, to give chances to the young players to develop and to get experiences like Connor Barron had a few months ago.
"What we want from him is that he keeps the ball well, that he's available against very aggressive defenders, and keeps the ball so that the team can come out of the press of Nice, because that's one of their strong qualities."