Martin not concerned about mole in dressing-room after starting XI revealed to public
Rangers head coach Russell Martin says he will not “lose sleep” over leaked team news after his starting line-up for Tuesday’s Champions League win over Viktoria Plzen was revealed hours before kick-off.
Martin had decided to drop captain James Tavernier, midfielder Nicolas Raskin, wide midfielder Kieran Dowell and striker Danilo for the first leg of the third qualifier at Ibrox, while winger Oliver Antman was given his debut and played a starring role in the 3-0 win.
The leak did not affect the side’s performance and speaking ahead of Saturday’s Premiership match with Dundee at Ibrox, Martin said: “I was told when I turned up to the stadium because I’m not on any social media. I can’t really control any of that. It has become more common in the modern game.
Russell Martin says he is not affected by team news getting out early at Rangers.placeholder image
Russell Martin says he is not affected by team news getting out early at Rangers. | SNS Group
“I don’t think anyone would do it from inside this building to intentionally hurt us. I always name the team really early as a coach or manager. It means people don’t waste time or energy wondering if they’re in the team and we can work on certain things.
“But it’s the modern game. People are left out, they tell their agents, friends and family – then somehow it gets to the media quickly. But I trust that no one does it to try and hurt us intentionally. I’ve said to the guys, it’s not ideal. But I’m also not going to lose sleep over it.
“I’m not sure it changes the opposition’s plan eight hours before a game as they’ll have done pretty much all of their work by then I presume. There’s enough stuff in this job to be concerned about and to focus on all the time. So I’m not going to overly stress about the team being leaked.”
Trio remain missing for Rangers
Martin will again be without Mikey Moore, Thelo Aasgaard and Hamza Igamane for the visit of Dundee. Moore – a 17-year-old loanee from Tottenham – is still waiting on international clearance, while Aasgaard and Igamane are working their way back to full fitness.
Martin is hoping to have Moore available for the trip to the Czech Republic on Tuesday, adding: “We’re still not quite there with Mikey which is frustrating for him and for us. Because he’s deemed a minor by FIFA (he turns 18 on Monday) there’s a lot of protocol to go through and we aren’t there yet.
“It can take a while. He’s 18 soon so he’d be available then for us. We might have to wait until then. But hopefully we’ll get him ready for Tuesday.”
Mikey Moore remains sidelined for Rangers.placeholder image
Mikey Moore remains sidelined for Rangers. | SNS Group
On Aasgaard and Igamane, Martin continued: “They’ve both made good steps in the last few days. They’re working hard with the rehab guys but not ready to be involved with the squad. Hamza missed two weeks because of the Visa thing (problem) so was behind the group. We’ve tried to speed up the process so that he’s ready to train.
“But he played his first minutes and picked up an injury because the intensity was different. So now we have to get him really ready to perform and not risk being injured again.
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“In terms of the speculation, we’ve not had any bids for Hamza and he’s a really good lad. He’s got on with it and is working hard with his English and everything else. He just needs to get fully fit.”