Rangers team for Bilbao is set as Barry Ferguson explains fitness boosts and Hamza Igamane call

With the tie level at 0-0 following last week’s first leg at Ibrox, Ferguson is able to call upon centre-half John Souttar and midfielder Mohamed Diomande - both of whom were banned in Govan - while defenders Leon Balogun and Ridvan Yilmaz plus Bailey Rice (midfield) and Vaclav Cerny (attack) are winning their own fitness battles.

Ferguson was part of the Rangers team that reached the UEFA Cup final under Walter Smith in 2008 and believes guiding this current group of players beyond Athletic Bilbao, who are the favourites for the Europa League with the final at their San Mames Stadium, would match that feat 17 years ago. Ferguson believes he has picked a team capable of getting past the in-form Spanish LaLiga side.

“In terms of a team selection tomorrow, I already know my team,” said Ferguson in his pre-match press conference. “The players already know the team, and I've picked a team that's hopefully going to go and progress into the semi-final.

“Leon Balogun trained. Ridvan, Cerny trained, and Rice all trained. So hopefully, when they wake up tomorrow, there's been no issues and as I said, hopefully we're going to be strong. Also, we've got John Souttar and Diomande back. Things are looking pretty healthy, but as I said, I just need to wait until tomorrow morning, I speak to the medical staff and hopefully I get the thumbs up.”

Asked what it would mean to guide Rangers into the last four, Ferguson continued: “Obviously, it would rank right up there. Six weeks ago, I wouldn't have imagined being in this position, standing on the sidelines, as manager of Glasgow Rangers. It would rank up there in what I've done in football as a player. There's no doubt in my mind about that.

“But it's not about me. I've always said that.
It's about my group of players going and showing their qualities at the highest level. This is a high-level game for us, and I'm confident that they'll go and show that tomorrow night.”

Ferguson is very aware of the task facing his team and still rates Athletic as favourites. “Yes, my opinion has not changed,” he said.
“I think they’re favourites for the competition. I think they've got some top-level players alongside a top-level manager. My opinion hasn't changed on the Athletic Club.”

One of the big decisions facing Ferguson is whether to start Cyriel Dessers or Hamza Igamane in attack. The latter scored in the 2-2 draw away at Aberdeen on Sunday to force himself into the interim head coach’s thinking - but Ferguson believes the Moroccan has even more to offer.

“I've always got big decisions to make,” said Ferguson. “In terms of Hamza, he did well, but I think Hamza can do a lot more. I'm very demanding in that side of his game. There's no doubt Hamza’s got so much quality – technically, he's so gifted – but he needs to add other things to his game, and that's something that we've been working hard on.”