Philippe Clement expects James Tavernier to return to training within the next week after missing two matches during Rangers’ pre-season trip to Holland.

The Englishman sat out the fixtures with Standard Liege and Ajax with a ‘small injury’ as Leon King, Leon Balogun, Dujon Sterling and Adam Devine all earned minutes in the right-back slot. Midfielder Todd Cantwell was also absent for the friendlies as Rangers drew with the Belgians and lost to their Eredivisie hosts.

Read more:

Rangers return to Glasgow on Sunday and have games with Manchester United, Birmingham City and Union Berlin before their Premiership opener against Hearts next month.

“James has a small injury,” Clement said. “It’s nothing big. But it’s too much for him to train with the squad at the moment. We expect him back at the beginning of next week, the end of next week. It all depends on how it evolves.

“Everyday it’s better but he is very disappointed that he could not train with the team. He’s been a little bit down because he loves to play football.

“He loves to work with the ball, more than he does doing all these exercises or running laps round the pitch alone that he’s been doing. It’s not a nice time so he wants to be back as soon as possible. It’s three weeks still to go so let’s first bring him back into training fit and to build him again.

“Todd is also not ready so we will see in the next couple of weeks. It’s a small thing with him.”

Rangers suffered a series of injury setbacks last season as the loss of a handful of influential players undermined their bid to win the Premiership and Scottish Cup.

Nicolas Raskin has become the first major doubt of the new term after he was forced off in the first half on Saturday. The midfielder left Wezep in a protective boot and will be assessed in the coming days.

“We don’t know yet,” Clement said. “It’s too early to say but he twisted his ankle. I hope it’s not too bad because for him it’s also important to have this preparation.

“Like it is for everybody, we want to keep all the squad fit so they can do this six week together and then they have a good base for the rest of the season.”