Philippe Clement has explained why he was forced to leave man of the moment, Vaclav Cerny, out of his Rangers starting XI tonight.
The Light Blues face Dynamo Kyiv at Hampden Park, with the Champions League qualifying third round tie level at 1-1 from the first leg.
Cerny, who arrived on-loan from Wolfsburg this summer has been impressive in recent matches, and Clement was desperate to have him on the pitch from the start this evening.
However, he revealed the Czech winger was informed by the medical staff that he couldn't play 90 minutes earlier this week.
Speaking to BBC Sportsound pre-match, the Rangers manager said: "I would've loved to have started with Vaclav Cerny today, but the medical staff, the performance staff, said it's too big of risk to start the game with him. They think he will have played too many minutes.
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"We also know first half intensity is always bigger than in the second half, so it was more wise to let him come in during the game where there's maybe a little more space and the rhythm drops with the opponent.
"But those are choices to make for the moment that I don't like to make, but it is what it is."
Clement also challenged his players to embrace the occasion, with the winner to face FC Twente or RB Salzburg in the play-off round.
"You need to embrace this," the Belgian coach demanded.
"If you want to be a Rangers player, you need to love this. The atmosphere, the importance of games, to play big games and want to play more big games and to go to the Champions League.
"You want huge challenges and that's why they want to come to Rangers, otherwise they need to go to a moderate team."
