Rangers manager reveals it will be 'impossible' for Ibrox player to start cup final

PHILIPPE Clement has admitted it will be “impossible” for Ryan Jack to start for Rangers in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup final – but endorsed Steve Clarke’s decision to name the midfielder in his provisional Scotland squad for Euro 2024.

Clarke sprang a major surprise when he selected Jack, who has not played for the Ibrox club since March and has not started a game since February, ahead of the warm-up friendlies against Gibraltar and Finland next month.

Clement, who has fitness doubts over a number of players ahead of the meeting with newly-crowned Scottish champions Celtic this afternoon, is unsure if the 18-times capped footballer will be able to feature in Mount Florida.

However, the Belgian, who named the experienced Scot in his match day squad for the cinch Premiership meeting with Hearts at Tynecastle last weekend, is confident the ex-Aberdeen man will be able to play in Germany. 

Asked if Jack would be involved in the cup final, he said: “That’s a decision we will need to make tomorrow once we see who else is fit. I can only say that until now he has just trained eight times with the team and played 45 minutes with the B team.

“So he is not fit, fit, to play a high-intensity game after being months out. Looking towards tomorrow, I can say that you cannot start the game with Ryan Jack. It’s impossible.

“I wish we could as he was really good when he was fit in the moments when he was playing for me. As a player he has a lot of qualities, but he’s not fit enough to start a game like this with the intensity around it.

“The national team is something else. They don’t play tomorrow, they play in a few weeks. That’s a totally different story.”