With the Champions League approaching, Rangers manager admits that Cortes “felt too much pain” and provides an update on his ailment.
With the Champions League approaching, Rangers manager admits that Cortes “felt too much pain” and provides an update on his ailment.
At Tynecastle, the Colombian winger had to be
replaced early in the second half by Rabbi
Matondo. Oscar Cortes suffered a knee injury
early in the second half of Rangers’ goalless draw
with Hearts at Tynecastle, and the winger’s
ailment is still too early to determine the extent
of the problem, according to manager Philippe
Clement. On the first day of the 2024–25 Scottish
Premiership season, the Ibrox team had to settle
for a draw, with Clement’s revamped squad
appearing especially weak for the full ninety
minutes. The Belgian has stressed that his team
remains in the midst of a major rebuild, despite
the lack of new signings names in his starting
line-up for this curtain-raiser in the capital and
Colombian wide man Cortes is now a major
fitness doubt ahead of the Gers’ Champions
League third qualifying round first-leg tie with
Dynamo Kyiv on Tuesday night. The 20-year-old
looked in real pain on the stroke of half-time
after finding himself on the receiving end of a
strong Gerard Taylor challenge. Despite receiving
a period of treatment on the pitch, Cortes was
deemed fit to re-emerge for the start of the
second half but broke down again within
minutes of the restart. Following the game,
Clement said, when asked about his injury
prognosis, “I cannot say for the moment.” At the
end of the first half, he suffered a serious duel.
After testing him for a knee injury, the physician
declared him good to play for the second half.
However, he experienced too much agony during
his first sprint, so we have to remove him. It’s not
ideal right now because, at this point in the
game, guys are less fresh, and you lose a key
player in the second half, which was significant.
However, it’s also the experience of a young
player, understanding your body, what
constitutes pain, and what you are capable of or
not. That is a component of young players, to get
a better assessment around that.”
When asked about his squad’s knowledge after
the Gorgie stalemate, Clement said, “Not too
much.” When the game first started, I thought
some players would show much more bravery in
the duels and on the ball. That was obviously
insufficient. I always want to win, so I’m never
satisfied with a point. But in the end, it’s a just
outcome. “It’s safe to say that we played poorly
for the first thirty minutes or so. It was a much,
much better second half after we responded
better and when we were able to talk about and
demonstrate things during halftime.However,
the squad must identify these things more
quickly on the pitch. Those are the points of
operation. That is typical in the rebuild that we
are doing, and then you see in the second half,
we play more of our normal game but then you
need to finish off the chances you get. It was first
half for Hearts and second half for us, so it’s a
fair result at the end.”
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