Danilo and Rabbi Matondo omitted from Rangers squad for Europe due to injuries

Rangers forwards Danilo and Rabbi Matondo have not been included in their squad for the Europa League campaign.

The pair are injured at present, and the fact they are omitted from the 21-man list submitted to UEFA indicates they are facing further periods on the sidelines.

Brazilian Danilo, who only recently returned from a long-term lay-off, has made just two appearances this term and was an unused substitute in Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Celtic. It has been reported that Danilo has undergone a knee operation and travelled to the Netherlands to begin his rehabilitation.

Winger Matondo has featured in six of Rangers’ seven matches this term but he was forced off in the first half of the defeat by Celtic with a hamstring injury and subsequently withdrew from the Wales squad for their Nations League double header against Turkey and Montenegro.

Meanwhile, midfielder Todd Cantwell, who left Ibrox to join Blackburn last week, said that he no longer felt Rangers was “the right place” for him to be due to the level of change at the club from when he first joined under Michael Beale in January 2023.

“I loved my time at Rangers. It is a special, special football club,” he told Sky Sports. “Obviously during my time we didn’t get the best of ‘the others (Celtic)’ as much as we’d have liked to but we were building in the right direction.

“The management changed, the sporting director and CEO changed too. It felt like a different place. When a new manager comes in they have to put their stamp on things, and I think we had a bounce last season when we got in a really good position to go on and do well.

“I have full respect for the manager at Rangers now (Philippe Clement) but I didn’t believe it was the right place for me to be and they were personal reasons.”

Cantwell was frozen out at Rangers at the start of the season, with Clement revealing to the media after a pre-season friendly at Birmingham in July that the former Norwich player had asked to leave. However, the 26-year-old was keen to quash suggestions that he refused to play for the club.

“I think there is a little bit of a misconception about how my time was at Rangers,” he said. “It has been twisted a little bit in the goldfish bowl.

“It was his decision to tell the press that it was my decision. We spoke internally for a while and ultimately couldn’t find a happy medium for both. I certainly didn’t leave because I was being kicked out of the door. It felt like the right time as a player to move on.

“Me and the manager didn’t see us going in the same direction in the same way, at the same time. It is nothing personal. The manager has a lot of players to deal with as well. I love the club so much.

“The one thing I’m desperate to clear up is, I never said I didn’t want to play for Rangers. Those words never came out of my mouth and never would. Those decisions were taken out of my hands.”