Giovanni van Bronckhorst will give Kemar Roofe and Aaron Ramsey “as long as possible” to prove their fitness for Rangers’ Europa League semi-final second leg against RB Leipzig on Thursday night.
The Jamaica striker and on-loan Wales midfielder have been out with respective knee and hamstring problems since the Scottish Cup semi-final win over Celtic at Hampden Park last month.
The Gers were beaten 1-0 by the Bundesliga outfit in Germany last Thursday night and, ahead of the return fixture at Ibrox, Van Bronckhorst said: “It depends how the training will go. When they got injured we all knew that they would work towards the game tomorrow [Thursday].
“Of course I will wait as long as possible, but the most important thing for me is that they are physically able to play a part in tomorrow’s game, that is always the deciding factor.
“We still have one day to prepare. Today will be an important day for both. I cannot tell you if they are in the squad for tomorrow or not.”
GvB: Let’s make Jimmy Bell proud
Van Bronckhorst has also urged his side to make the late Jimmy Bell proud and reach the Europa League final.
Gers kit man Bell passed away this week at the age of 69, after earning a cult hero status at Ibrox after working at the club for 30 years.
Van Bronckhorst’s side trail RB Leipzig 1-0 from the first leg and the Dutchman admitted his players were deeply affected by Bell’s passing.
“We were all shocked about the news, it was a hard day for all of us,” said Van Bronckhorst. “Everyone was really down.
“Yesterday we didn’t do a lot, we were at the training ground, the atmosphere was very down and everyone was in shock. We talked about him [Bell], we shared stories about him.
“It was a a big game already, but now we’re really determined to go out tomorrow and make everyone proud and make Jimmy proud.
“We still mourn, we’re still down. But I think the character of my players are the best I’ve seen from any team I’ve coached. I’m sure the character, belief, determination will be there and we’ll do everything to reach the final.”
Captain James Tavernier admitted it was a “devastating” time for everyone associated with Bell.
He said: “Yesterday was difficult to take. We all mourned Jimmy and obviously people are still doing it now, but I know Jimmy wouldn’t want the fuss.
“He would want us to roll our sleeves up and get stuck in tomorrow. We want to do it for the club, for the fans and for Jimmy.”
Only Scot Symon, Willie Waddell and Walter Smith have led Rangers teams to European finals.
Symon took the Gers to the 1961 and 1967 European Cup Winners’ Cup finals, Waddell won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972 and Smith guided the Ibrox outfit to the 2008 UEFA Cup final.
Van Bronckhorst is hoping his Rangers side of 2022 can be added to that list. The former Feyenoord boss said: “I am not thinking of personal goals.
“I am thinking about being successful with the club, that is the most important thing. There have not been many times that a (Rangers) team has played a final in Europe, so hopefully we will be joining a very elite group and that’s all that matters.
“We are all here to bring success and trophies to this beautiful club and that is always my main target.”
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