Ianis Hagi may be missing out on a Europa League reunion with his Romanian pals but Philippe Clement hopes he can play a part for Rangers in the knockout rounds.
The 26-year-old was left out of Gers’ UEFA squad after a contract stand-off. The dispute has since been solved – but not soon enough for him to face his dad Gheorghe’s former team Steaua Bucharest. Clement said: “He is not on the European list because at that moment we had to decide things. So we will see for the second part of the season. We hope we can make a new European list and then we will look to make the right decisions from there.”
Meanwhile, striker Danilo stepped up his return to action with a goal for Gers’ B Team in Tuesday night’s SPFL Trust Trophy win over Stenhousemuir. But the ineligible hitman won’t be back to face the Romanians.
Fellow crock Ridvan Yilmaz is included on Gers’ UEFA list but Clement said: “He’s not yet in the selection because Ridvan trained now the second time with the first team, but he came out of a serious injury.
“It’s too fast for him to be put in again, but he’s in a positive way. It was good watching Danilo back, scoring a goal, getting back in shape but he still has a long way to go. He’s going to be important on the things we want to achieve in the next couple of months.”
Youngster Zak Lovelace, though, is in contention after impressing against Stenny. Clement opted to whip the teenager off at half-time during the 4-1 win at Forthbank to keep him fit for Steaua. The Belgian said: “He will be in the selection, yes.
“Zak is not there that the fans will be excited for 10 games in a row. He can do specific things in a different style than other players in the squad. But there are still a lot of things to work on and he’s just 18 years old.
“But it’s an interesting profile for the future and for the near future. We decided before the game that it was a maximum of 60 minutes to play and we would decide during half-time if it was 45 or 60. In 45 I saw enough because I want him on the bench for Thursday.”