RANGERS hopes of beating Aberdeen in the cinch Premiership at Pittodrie today have been given a major boost after the Ibrox club’s second top goalscorer Abdallah Sima was cleared to play.
The Brighton loanee’s wife gave birth to the couple’s first child on Thursday night and the player, who has netted nine goals in all competitions in the 2023/24 season, trained on Friday and Saturday.
Manager Philippe Clement has been in constant contact with the 22-year-old this week and is pleased the player will be available to start his side’s league meeting with their bitter rivals today.
“Abdallah became a father on Thursday,” said Clement. “On Thursday night I was texting until ten o’clock with Abda about training, his wife and things. He was back in training on Friday and is okay for Aberdeen.”
Sima has made four appearances for the Senegal national team in the past and could be called up by his country for the Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast in January if he continues to perform so well for Rangers in the coming weeks.
However, Clement is unconcerned with the prospect of being without one of his star performers when the Ibrox club return to action following the winter break.
“I don’t want to think about problems that could come,” he said. “We have a lot of work already with things that have come our way. So, to think of all these scenarios in a negative way, it’s not the way I want to work.
“It’s also something I can not control. I cannot say, “Abda, you need to stay here”. And I cannot say to Senegal they cannot select him.
“So, we will see what happens and then we need to react like we did in the first four weeks when a lot of players were injured and not available. That gives other players an opportunity to show themselves. That’s the way to look at this thing.”
Clement is no stranger to derby matches having been involved in many big games as a player and a coach during his career and the Belgian is well aware that tensions in the stands can often have an impact on proceedings on the park.
However, the former Genk, Club Brugge and Monaco manager, who has won all four of the cinch Premiership matches he has overseen since being appointed last month, will not accept his charges picking up needless yellow or red cards.
Rangers crashed to a 3-1 defeat to Aberdeen art Ibrox at the end of September after Scott Wright was sent off in the second half and manager Michael Beale was sacked afterwards.
Asked if he has been told about the intensity of the Aberdeen v Rangers fixture, Clement said: “Nobody has told me much. I read newspapers sometimes and people tell me what’s in them.
“One of my first messages towards the team was that every game was important and we need to have respect for every opponent. I want to see a team that plays the same against Real Madrid and Ross County.
“So I see the team understands it’s important to be like that and they did it in a good way over the last couple of weeks. They’re not busy with the noise around, they’re busy with what they do on pitch.
“That would be stupid (to get caught up in the occasion) so it’s what we try to avoid. For the moment, I don’t have this fear. We’ve all seen it in the past with several teams, but I don’t like it when I see it in my team. That’s why I try to avoid it, by explaining these things.
“They should be ready to play out game, not be busy with what’s going on around the pitch or discussions with referees or opponents. I want there to be a pure focus on us.”
