Rangers manager Philippe Clement is hopeful Todd Cantwell can feature in their crunch Europa League last-16 second leg tie with Benfica.

Cantwell, 26, has returned to training following a month-long injury lay-off but the Belgian boss insists the playmaker won't be ready to play the full game. 

While he was dealt a further blow as he ruled out Dujon Sterling having any involvement at Ibrox on Thursday because of a minor injury. Sterling, who has proved a key player for Rangers in recent months, hobbled off during Sunday's Scottish Cup quarter-final win over Hibernian. 

Playmaker Ross McCausland also suffered a setback last time out and has still to be assessed. There's also long-term absentees in Abdallah Sima, Kieran Dowell, Oscar Cortes, Kieran Dowell and Danilo. 

READ MORE: Tavernier details how Clement changed the standards at Rangers

Asked to provide an update on his squad's fitness, Clement confessed: "Todd (Cantwell) is ready to play a number of minutes as discussed with the medical staff, clearly not ready for 90 minutes. He was good in the training also and I'm happy to see him back.

"Dujon (Sterling) will not be in the squad, it is a minor issue but we won't take the risk - we will see where he is ahead of Sunday. Ross McCausland did one part of training today and we will see tomorrow how he is."