Robin Propper bemoans Rangers injuries but targets Europa League last 16

Rangers defender Robin Propper lamented the team’s injury problems and admitted his disappointment at defeat to Manchester United in the Europa League.

After falling behind to a Jack Butland own goal at Old Trafford, Cyriel Dessers scored an equaliser in the 88th minute, only for Bruno Fernandes to strike in injury time and consign Rangers to defeat.

A combination of injuries, suspension and ineligible players had restricted manager Philippe Clement’s selection choices ahead of the match, and he was forced to make changes in game when Leon Balogun, Connor Barron and Vaclav Cerny were all forced off.

Propper said that the nature of the fightback and Dessers goal made it harder to leave England without what would have been a valuable point.

“In the end, it was disappointing of course,” he said. “You’re thinking it’s the last five minutes at 1-1, so you should hold it and keep a point. That’s what makes it disappointing at full-time.

“Cyriel’s goal was a huge moment, it was an amazing finish. I’m obviously behind it and when you see the away fans celebrating – it was a fantastic goal.

“It’s a great pass from Tav, a good touch from Cyriel and an amazing goal. It was an incredible feeling at the time. I was hoping that feeling could stay with us a little bit longer.”

With Bailey Rice, Findlay Curtis and Ross McCausland all in action, there was a youthful look around the team that finished the match and Propper took encouragement from how the inexperienced players took to the occasion. The Dutchman looked on that as a positive when he feels that an injury crisis has been really damaging for the side.

“It’s amazing how well the young guys who came in did on the night,” he said. “We all did it together. They showed a great mentality because we had a lot of switching positions for players and so many young guys had to come into this type of game.

“That’s really good to know that we could manage that. It’s disappointing to have so many injuries, which meant we had to do that. But the young guys did really well and we made it really hard for Man United to win this game.

“We play a lot of games and football is a contact sport. So injuries are part of it. But there are too many because we need every player and we’ve lost real quality.

“It would be different if we could start with our first 11. But you can see we’ve got young boys who can play and they did really well.”

Now the focus turns to Sundays’s match against Dundee United before the final Europa League match at home to Union Saint-Gilloise next Thursday. Propper hasn’t yet given up hope on a top eight finish and automatic progress to the last 16.

“We want to win the game next week and go through to the next round,” Propper said. “Hopefully be in the first eight in the table. For sure, we need to win against Union.”