Rangers suffer double blow ahead of Panathinaikos clash as duo fail to travel

Russell Martin's side travel to Athens with a 2-0 advantage thanks to a pair of stunning second half strikes from Findlay Curtis and Djeidi Gassama in the first leg at Ibrox last week.

Rangers are bidding to reach the penultimate stage of Champions League qualification, with Viktoria Plzen or Servette awaiting the winner in the third qualifying round, while progressing through the tie will also ensure the guaranteed fallback of a place in the Europa League.

However, they will have to make do without two key first-team players for the clash in Greece after Thelo Aasgaard and Hamza Igamane failed to travel with the squad.

Neither player was involved as the Rangers squad were put through their paces at Auchenhowie in their final training session and they have remained at home to continue recuperating.

Aasgaard, a £3.5million summer signing from Luton Town, had been in a race against time to recover from an injury picked up in a pre-season friendly against Dunfermline on July 15.

Head coach Martin had hoped to have the Norwegian winger available for the second leg but the 23-year-old has not been able to recover in time.

“Thelo didn’t quite make it,” Martin said as he addressed the media at the Olympic Stadium in Athens. “To risk him early on at this stage of the season would be crazy so we will make sure he is right.”

Igamame, meanwhile, sat out the weekend friendly draw against Middlesbrough at Ibrox after picking up a strain during his substitute appearance in the first leg win over Panathinaikos.

The Moroccan was already behind in his pre-season work due to visa issues, while he has also been at the centre of ongoing transfer speculation amid reported interest from the likes of Rennes, Lille, Feyenoord and Everton.

Panathinaikos have their own selection concerns ahead of the second leg with Georgios Vagiannidis suspended following his red card at Ibrox while Emmanouil Siopis has a back injury.