Rabbi Matondo is set to be sidelined for up to two months after sustaining a hamstring injury in Rangers' Old Firm defeat to Celtic on Sunday.

The winger hobbled off in the early stages of the Parkhead clash as Philippe Clement was forced into a switch. Ross McCausland took over on the left side of the attack as Rangers suffered a costly loss that leaves them five points adrift in the Premiership title race.

Matondo was withdrawn from the Wales squad for the Nations League matches with Turkey and Montenegro during the international break. And the Rangers Review understands he faces between six and eight weeks out of action as he prepares to work through a rehabilitation schedule at Auchenhowie.

Matondo and Brazilian striker Danilo have been left out of Clement's squad for the upcoming Europa League campaign. Rangers kick-off their fixtures with a trip to face Malmo later this month and will also have ties against the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Nice in the new-look format.

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Matondo was the subject of interest from Blackburn Rovers and Norwich City during the transfer window. A terrific showing in the win over Ross County looked like being his farewell to Rangers but he remained as part of Clement’s squad and was given the nod to start the first derby of the season.

Clement will now be without the forward for the foreseeable future. The loss of Matondo comes as Oscar Cortes continues to step up his recovery from the injury he sustained on the opening day of the campaign at Tynecastle, while Clement has also been able to welcome back Nicolas Raskin following his ankle issue.

Rangers return to action next weekend with a trip to face Dundee United and the pressure will be on Clement’s side to respond to their Old Firm no-show. The Tannadice clash is a must-win for the visitors as Clement looks to rebuild momentum this term.

“It shows also the potential that there is in the squad,” Clement said in the aftermath of the defeat to Celtic. “There are still 34 games to go. We know at this moment we need to improve a lot of things, we need to gel also people together and get this automatism between players.

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"The faster the game goes, the higher the level is, the faster you have to make decisions. We need to create the next weeks, the next months, also this connection between players. It is a normal thing.

“You saw also the moment that Celtic bring on a lot of players that they paid a lot of money for. It was not the same way of playing although they have to do the same things for their manager. They need to also come into this way of playing offensively, defensively, what to do together.

"It is a normal thing in football. We know we have a lot of work to do. We knew already two weeks ago, four weeks ago, we knew two months ago. We are going to do that.”