Rangers boss Philippe Clement has revealed illness was a factor in his team selection against Motherwell.
The Belgian has made seven changes from the 2-1 defeat to St Mirren on Boxing Day, a result which included a first half performance that he was far from happy with.
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Explaining his decision to BBC Scotland, Clement said: "Because of the circumstance with illness. For example, Ianis Hagi was normally planned to start this game, but it's not possible because he came in ill and he has a fever now. So, you can't play a game like that.
"Other players like [Vaclav] Cerny has been playing at the moment, double the amount of minutes compared to what he played last year with this team. So, he's getting tired.
"The performance staff warned also about injuries if we keep on starting with him and getting a lot of minutes. It's the same with Hamza [Igamane], the same with Jefte, they've played a lot the last couple of weeks. So, in a way, we were forced to make some changes."
Probed further on if he's confident in his selection today, Clement continued: "Yeah of course, that's what Rangers is about. All the players in the squad are able to win this games against all the opponents in the league. Otherwise, you cannot be part of the squad. So, it's a good test also of the depth of the squad. "
In his interview with Rangers TV, Clement elaborated further, explaining that Sports scientist advice forced his hand over Czech winger Vaclav Cerny.
🎙️ PRE-MATCH: Philippe Clement spoke to @RangersTV ahead of today’s match against Motherwell. 📺 RangersTV subscribers outside the UK can watch the match live: https://t.co/4hJ08vAyDn pic.twitter.com/XX3cXqzN9p
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) December 29, 2024
He said: "Cerny has been playing, for the moment, the double amount of minutes that he played all season last year. So, he's getting tired, the staff was really clear about that, that you risk injuries where he is now, and he said also that he's really tired to play 90 minutes. He can come off the bench with Hamza Igamane, the same. He played a lot of minutes now. We have Cyriel Dessers to do the job there.
"Jefte the same way. Played a lot of minutes last week, the last month. So, Ridvan played enough minutes the last couple of weeks to get back into his rhythm. He can play his best position now.
"So, in that way, we had to make a lot of changes because of circumstances. Of course, you need to rotate in this moment of the season, where you have that amount of games in the short term, but because of injuries, and illness, we had to change a little bit more."
