Philippe Clement is starting at ground zero at Ibrox. He defined the injury situation as the foundations of the house being ‘clearly not good’. The solutions are, for now, being kept in the building by the Belgian.

There have been stages of the season where Clement has spent more time talking about those who are not fit to play rather than those who were able to pull on their boots. Just weeks into his tenure, he spoke about the selection 'puzzle' being the worst he had ever encountered and he would go on to, somehow, guide his depleted squad to European progression and domestic achievement. In the end, it has caught up with Rangers. The table never lies, after all.

The Premiership standings are there in black and white. The numbers relating to the match minutes played this term are just as depressing and concerning to read for Clement and he is some way from the target of 90 percent availability across the group that he has worked around at his previous clubs. If those statistics cannot be addressed, Rangers simply have no chance of coming out on top of the table that matters most.

Of the nine players that Michael Beale recruited last season, only two – Jack Butland and Cyriel Dessers – have been named in every one of the 57 match squads over the course of the campaign. Butland has been an ever-present presence in the Premiership and has only watched one fixture overall after sitting out the Scottish Cup win at Dumbarton. For all the questions and concerns over the contribution and quality of Dessers, his robustness and reliability in selection terms have been hugely important for Rangers, especially given the plethora of problems that Rangers have had from middle to front.

Dessers is one of only six players to have more than 2000 league minutes under his belt this term. Celtic by contrast, have had nine. When you take Butland out of the equation, only two – captain James Tavernier and John Lundstram – have broken the 3000-minute barrier. Celtic by contrast have had five players break that barrier. Connor Goldson will fall just short of that figure after form and fitness issues, while John Souttar has been one of the success stories of the season in that regard after putting his own injury nightmares behind him, appearing in 51 squads and 41 matches across all competitions.

Minutes played in the Scottish Premiership by Rangers players

The exploits of Tavernier and Lundstram in purely physical terms are remarkable, with both also playing a full quota – just shy of 800 – of minutes in the Europa League. If Rangers had a core of players with their consistency of selection, Clement’s side would undoubtedly have had a greater chance of success this season. Going forward, Clement needs more stalwarts and the physical profile of potential recruits will form a key part of the process this summer.

Of the nine players Rangers signed last summer, only three have played more than 40 percent of league minutes this campaign.

Similarly of, the seven players Rangers signed throughout 2022/23 only three have played more than 40 percent of league minutes this campaign...

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