Four Rangers stars walking tightrope against Athletic Bilbao amid risk of Europa League ban

John Souttar and Mohamed Diomande are suspended for the Ibrox showdown this Thursday to due an accumulation of bookings during the Europa League campaign thus far.

Diomande has already served a suspension after collecting three yellow cards against Malmo, Nice and Tottenham in the group stages which forced him to sit out the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford in January.

Subsequent bookings against Union Saint-Gilloise and in the last 16 second leg penalty shoot-out victory over Fenerbahce at Ibrox has resulted in the Ivorian breaching the threshold again after taking his tally to five cautions.

Souttar collected his third booking of the competition against Fenerbahce last month, triggering an automatic one-match ban, which the centre-back will serve against Bilbao this week.

Both players will be free to return for the second leg at the Estadio de San Mamés next Thursday, but a quartet of team-mates are walking a suspension tightrope ahead of that match.

Connor Barron, Nico Raskin, Jefte and Hamza Igamane have received two bookings in the tournament to date, meaning that a yellow card against Bilbao on Thursday would rule them out of the second leg.

The disciplinary slate is wiped clean following the conclusion of the quarter-finals which will ensure that Rangers would be free of any suspensions concerns ahead of the final, should they make it through to the semis, providing they do not receive any red cards in the last four, where either Manchester United or Lyon lie in wait.

The Rangers players currently on one Europa League caution, and who would miss the semi-final first leg if they are booked in both ties against Bilbao, include Jack Butland, James Tavernier, Leon Balogun, Robin Propper, Dujon Sterling, Cyriel Dessers, Vaclav Cerny, Ianis Hagi and Ross McCausland.