Glasgow Rangers are back in Europa League action this week as they travel away from Scotland to take on Benfica in Portugal this evening.
The Light Blues face off against the Liga Portugal giants in the first leg of their last 16 tie in the European competition, ahead of the return clash at Ibrox next week.
Philippe Clement will be looking for a strong response from his team tonight after they suffered a 2-1 defeat at home to Motherwell last weekend.
The Gers, thanks to Celtic losing to Hearts on Sunday, remain top of the Scottish Premiership table as they go in search of domestic and European glory before the end of the 2023/24 campaign.
Clement could make at least one change to the starting XI that lost to Motherwell after an injury sustained during the first half of that encounter.
Latest Rangers injury news
Academy graduate Ross McCausland lined up on the left wing for the Light Blues but was forced off with a knock before the half-time break.
Motherwell defender Dan Casey went in with a strong challenge – that Clement described as having too much "intensity" – on the young winger that led to him being substituted for Fabio Silva.
After the match, the Gers boss claimed that it was a "serious" injury for the Northern Ireland international but was not able to offer any timeline on his return at the time.
The former Rangers B star was then seen on crutches later that day, which may have left supporters concerned about his involvement in this clash with Benfica.
However, there was good news for Clement and Rangers on Wednesday as the talented whiz joined his teammates for a full training session ahead of the trip to Portugal.
This suggests that his injury may not have been as serious as was first feared, which means that he could now be in contention to feature tonight.
Oscar Cortes, who joined on loan from Lens during the last transfer window, is currently out with a long-term injury, whilst Brighton & Hove Albion loanee Abdallah Sima is also absent with a thigh injury sustained playing for Senegal in January.
Those blows have left Clement without a plethora of options to pick from in the wide areas, which is why he may not want to risk McCausland from the start against Benfica.
The safe option could be to either rest him completely ahead of the weekend or to bring him off the bench, to avoid aggravating the injury sustained against Motherwell.
With this in mind, the Belgian tactician must ruthlessly ditch the Northern Irish wizard, who has not registered a goal or an assist in his last six matches, by unleashing Fabio Silva from the start on the left flank.
Ross McCausland's attacking statistics this season
The 20-year-old gem has emerged as a regular first-team operator throughout the 2023/24 campaign, having graduated from the academy set-up, but is yet to nail down his consistency in front of goal.
He has made 28 appearances for the Scottish giants in all competitions so far this season, with 22 of those coming in the Premiership and four in the Europa League.
McCausland has only contributed with two goals and three assists for the Light Blues in those 28 matches, which is a return of one goal or assist every 5.6 games on average.
Appearances
4
Starts
1
Goals
1
Key passes
2
Dribbles completed
4
As you can see in the table above, the Gers youngster has scored in the Europa League already this season but was not trusted to start more than one match in the competition during the group stages.
The right-footed forward has also only started 13 times in the Premiership, and chipped in with one goal and two assists for the Scottish giants.
These statistics show that McCausland has not offered consistent quality in the final third as either a scorer or creator of goals from a wide position, which is why – along with the injury concern – he should be ruthlessly ditched for tonight's match.
The stats that show why Silva should replace McCausland
Clement must now unleash Silva, ahead of Scott Wright, as his replacement on the left flank in the absence of Cortes and Sima this evening.
He is naturally a centre-forward but has the dynamism, pace, and technical ability to be deployed on the wing, as shown by the manager's decision to bring him on for McCausland against Motherwell.
The Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee made an impact during the second half as his clever flick over the defender resulted in a late challenge to win a penalty for Rangers, which was dispatched by James Tavernier.
Appearances
9
17
Starts
4
5
Goals
2
0
Key passes per game
0.6
0.6
Assists
0
0
Penalties won
1
0
As you can see in the table above, Silva has made a greater impact in the final third – with two more goals and one more penalty won – despite having played eight fewer matches in the Premiership.
The 6 foot 1 dynamo, whose work rate was hailed as "infectious" by teammate Connor Goldson, has scored three goals in 11 appearances in all competitions for the club since his move on loan in January, which means that he has already outscored McCausland for the first-team.
Playing on the left flank is not a natural role for him but his penalty-winning cameo against Motherwell suggests that the young whiz has the potential to do well in that position.
He won the penalty by driving into the box from the left wing to get on the end of a pass and Silva then used his fantastic technical ability to lift the ball over the sliding defender, who clattered into the forward's ankles.
Clement must now unleash the tricky attacker from the start against Benfica to see if he can produce moments of magic like that to help the side take a positive result back to Ibrox for the second leg.
McCausland could then be used as an impact substitute for the Gers in the second half and not be risked after his injury concern last weekend.