'Where's the forward thinking?' - Pundit rages as 'Another Mistake' leaves Rangers without star tonight

Derek Ferguson has blasted the lack of foresight shown by Rangers to leave them without the services of striker Danilo against Olympiacos.

The Brazilian returned to Light Blues action off the bench in the 2-1 League Cup semi-final victory over Motherwell on 3 November, with his movement a key factor in the build-up to Nedim Bajrami’s deflected winner at Hampden Park.

But after a year blighted by injury Philippe Clement and his staff omitted the former £6million signing [Sky Sports] from the Europa League squad and do not have him in Greece.

Danilo was ruled out for at least a month earlier this season after suffering a set back in his recovery from a knee injury, undergoing another operation [Rangers Review, 5 September] and was left out of the continental squad along with Rabbi Matondo, leaving Clement with just Cyriel Dessers and Hamza Igamane as options up front.

Moroccan youngster Igamane then missed the previous away trip himself after passport issues kept him from travelling to face Malmo [4 Lads Had A Dream, 26 September], while Ianis Hagi is another senior player not registered to play in Europe as the Romanian was frozen out of the first team at the time the squad was submitted.

Rangers have another four Europa League group stage fixtures following the Olympiacos clash, facing Nice, Tottenham, Manchester United and Union Saint-Gilloise, before being able to alter their squad if they qualify for the knockout stages in February.

Dessers leads the line in Greece on 7 November, with Igamane on the bench, but Ferguson believes the decision to leave Danilo out of contention entirely has needlessly weakened the Light Blues’ chances.

Rangers without Danilo despite Motherwell return

He exclusively told Ibrox News: “If you want to talk about another mistake. In Europe, we’re going in against [Olympiacos] without Danilo.

“They didnae put him in that European squad. Where’s the forward thinking with that?

“You must have a rough idea when these guys are going to be back fit and ready to go, so then you would include, certainly, Danilo in the squad.”

In other Rangers news, the Light Blues have been hit by a “massive blow” that could hurt them in the League Cup final against Celtic.

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The post 'Where's the forward thinking?' - Pundit rages as 'Another Mistake' leaves Rangers without star tonight appeared first on Ibrox News.