Philippe Clement confirmed Abdallah Sima is set to be sidelined “long term” as the Rangers manager waits on the final prognosis of the striker’s injury.
The 22-year-old Senegal international, who has scored 15 goals since arriving on loan from Brighton in the summer, was sent home from the Africa Cup of Nations with a thigh problem.
The Senegal FA confirmed Sima picked up the injury in training and a statement warned he could face a “long period of unavailability.”
Clement was asked if had any further update on Sima at his media conference ahead of Wednesday’s Premiership trip to Hibernian, where Rangers will look to use one of their two games in hand on Celtic to cut the eight-point gap to the leaders.
“No, not yet and it is not that I want to keep things away from you,” said Clement.
“I expect to have more news today, tomorrow at the latest, from my medical staff and I always listen to them and not other people.
“So ask me this question after the game and then I will have the information.”
Asked if there was any indication if it would be a short-term or long-term absence, Clement replied: “It will be long term. That is also why I want to have the right information.
“Like I always say, I want to look at the glass half-full, I don’t want pity or disappointment.
“The team and squad has proven they always stand up when something happens and other players do the job and there have been really positive surprises that way so we are going to look for solutions and other surprises.”
Clement, meanwhile, refused to confirm reports that midfielder Mohamed Diomande will be arriving from Danish side FC Nordsjaelland.
So far in the winter transfer window only Fabio Silva has joined the Ibrox club, the Portuguese attacker coming on loan from Wolves.
While Clement expects to add further to his squad, he was tight-lipped about 22-year-old Diomande.
He said: “I don’t speak about many rumours because there has been how many, 50 names in the last couple of weeks?
“If you start to talk about one rumour you need to talk about the other rumours and then I am only busy about that and not making training any more or looking at players or talking to my own players, so I never do that.”
Clement also revealed that 20-year midfielder Alex Lowry will go back out on loan after returning from a temporary spell at Hearts which was cut short.
He said: “The plan is we want him to go on loan again to get minutes and come back in a good way. We will see what teams are interested and what is best for him.”
T&T Women defeat Curacao 3-1 to move to two wins from two in Caribbean Queen’s Friendly Tournament
Trinidad & Tobago’s National Women’s Football Team defeated hosts Curacao 3-1 to remain unbeaten in the Caribbean Queen's Friendly Tournament which continued at the Stadion Rignaal ‘Jean’ Francisca, Willemstad on Thursday.
The Trinidadians were given a positive start through goals from senior team debutants Sonia Lamarre and Cherina Steele in the ninth and 14th minutes, respectively, before Curacao pulled one back in the 45th off a corner kick to cut the lead in half heading into the break.
Lille full-back Kedie Johnson restored the visitors' two-goal lead twenty minutes into the second half.
“Very happy with the result, not so much the football,” said T&T Head coach Richard Hood said after Thursday’s win.
Important to note, this game came just a day after they secured a 2-1 win over Aruba at the same venue.
“I thought it was really important that we pulled off a victory tonight given the physical conditioning of the girls. We saw tonight all our senior players struggled, having played 90 minutes last evening (Wednesday night) as well and again on turf which adds to the difficulty,” Hood said.
“The effort from the girls was tremendous and I am really happy with that. They showed a lot of resilience although they were very much dead on their legs. I thought it was really important that we were able to score three quality goals tonight, given our fatigued state,” he added.
Curacao's tactics forced the Trinidadians to play a style they weren't expecting and Hood gave his team credit for adjusting well.
“They forced us to run more than we would have liked and they played a lot of long balls...but all in all, I am really happy with the effort from the girls tonight and I’m happy with their determination to really win,” he said.
Hood expressed satisfaction with what he’s seeing from the next generation after using a number of younger players throughout the first two encounters of the tournament.
“The future is really bright for the youngsters once we do the right things in terms of nurturing them and assisting with their development and getting them involved in more tournaments such as these so all in all, very happy,” he added.
T&T will face Aruba again on Sunday before facing Curacao on Monday.
Dykes ruled out of Euro 2024 for Scotland
Scotland striker Lyndon Dykes has been ruled out of Euro 2024 after picking up an injury in training on Friday.
While preparing for their upcoming friendly against Gibraltar, Dykes left the training pitch on a stretcher with an apparent knee injury.
On Saturday, Scotland confirmed that the 28-year-old will miss the tournament, though the injury has not been specified.
Dykes has scored nine goals for Scotland in 36 appearances, and played in all eight of their Euro 2024 qualifiers, scoring once.
Steve Clarke's side will begin the tournament against hosts Germany in the opening match on June 14.
Atlanta United v Charlotte FC: Five Stripes looking to build on impressive Miami win
Gonzalo Pineda is hoping Atlanta United can use their win over high-flying Inter Miami as a turning point ahead of Charlotte FC's visit on Sunday.
The Five Stripes beat Lionel Messi's Miami 3-1 in midweek, snapping a nine-match winless streak in the MLS in the process.
It means they move closer to the playoff places in the Eastern Conference, and Pineda is confident they can positively build on this result.
"I really want to [use the Miami win as a turning point]," Pineda said.
"I want to find the right words and connection with them individually, collectively, so we can make that big, big victory our turning point in our season and in three or four months, we can look to Miami and say it was the important one.
"That's when we came back to who we are. I hope that happens, but we have to focus on the next one.
"It's massively important [to win at home] because we haven't won there in a while. I think our fans deserve to have some joy on Sunday and I hope we can give them that."
Charlotte's five-match unbeaten run came to an end against New York Red Bulls on Wednesday, with their 3-1 defeat also the first time they have conceded since the start of that run.
Dean Smith is aware of the rivalry between the two clubs' supporters and wants to use it to give his players an added incentive.
"Derbies are really important because bragging rights are everything," said Smith.
"We're a young club still, we'll build up those rivalries, but the players will be aware of it - I'll make them aware of it - because it's important to our supporters."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Atlanta – Saba Lobjanidze
Lobjanidze scored his first career MLS brace in Atlanta's win over Miami on Wednesday. It was the 48th multi-goal game by an Atlanta player in a regular-season league match, more than any other team since they joined the league in 2017.
Charlotte – Ben Bender
Bender scored his first goal of the 2024 season on Wednesday after scoring three times in 2022 and 2023 for Charlotte. The American is the first player to score in all three MLS seasons for Charlotte FC.
MATCH PREDICTION: ATLANTA UNITED WIN
Atlanta ended a nine-match regular-season winless run (D4 L5) with a 3-1 win at Miami on Wednesday. The Five Stripes return home, where they have lost four consecutive league matches after having never previously lost three in a row at home.
Meanwhile, Charlotte saw their five-match unbeaten run come to an end with a 3-1 loss to the Red Bulls on Wednesday. Still, Charlotte's 22 points through 16 games are their most at this stage of a season in club history.
The four all-time meetings between Atlanta and Charlotte have been split with each team winning twice, once at home and once on the road. Both teams won at home in the 2022 season before winning on each other's field in the 2023 season.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Atlanta – 48.2%
Draw – 25.9%
Charlotte – 25.9%
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