Rangers boss Philippe Clement has praised Abdallah Sima as a ‘soldier’ ahead of this evening’s game against Sparta Prague.
Rangers are back in Europa League action this evening with Sparta Prague the opponents.
The Gers have beaten Real Betis but lost to Aris Limassol – arguably the opposite of expected results.
This will be the first European game for Philippe Clement since his appointment as Rangers boss earlier this month.
Saturday’s 4-0 win over Hibernian was a great start but Rangers fans will be looking for a positive result this evening.
One player who will be key to any Rangers win tonight is Abdallah Sima.
The Senegal international has been in great form of late and scored twice against Hibernian on Saturday.
Not only is Sima firing on all cylinders right now, but he also knows Sparta and the Czech game well.
Sima rose to prominence with Sparta’s rivals Slavia Prague, hitting 16 goals and seven assists in 39 games.
Sima may be familiar with a number of players featuring tonight and Rangers will hope to see him use that knowledge to his advantage.
Rangers boss Clement has now praised the Brighton and Hove Albion loanee whilst speaking to Rangers Review, calling him a ‘soldier’ because he isn’t just thinking about himself.
Clement hailed Sima’s attitude whilst highlighting that he is well aware of the talent in the Czech game, going back to Sima’s time at Slavia.
“I coached Genk against Slavia in that period. Also, we bought Simon Deli from Slavia when I was in Brugge. So we followed this competition a lot,” said Clement. “Abda is doing a really good job so far. He’s a soldier for the team, not only thinking about scoring goals and giving assists but also doing his defensive job.
“It’s a really important part of our football that everyone needs to work and if we do it all together we’re a strong club. We saw it on Saturday in parts of the game and we’re going to need it in this game also. Abda is someone not thinking about himself. He’s doing a job for the team,” he added.
Sima only played against Sparta once during this time with Slavia, missing two meetings with a groin injury.
The one game Sima did play against Sparta was a huge success as he scored twice in a 3-0 away win.
Sima played down the right flank in that game but we are maybe more likely to see him feature on the left this evening.
Rangers would love a similar performance tonight with Sima no doubt looking to continue his impressive form.