RANGERS have refused to release winger Fraser Aird to play for Canada Under-20s in the CONCACAF tournament in Jamaica next week.
The 19-year-old midfielder has established himself as a key member of the Championship side this season.
And with Rangers due to face Hearts in a crucial encounter a week on Friday, caretaker boss Kenny McDowall has refused the Canadians permission to include Aird in the competition, which provides qualification for the Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand next year.
Canada U20 head coach Rob Gale said: "I'm a bit disappointed to lose some key characters with clubs not releasing them, but it will provide opportunities for talented players to step up and prove they can apply themselves at this level."
However, Ibrox colleague Luca Gasparotto has been allowed to feature in the games against Mexico, El Salvador, Cuba and Honduras. Caley Thistle's Calum Ferguson has also been called up.
Meanwhile, Arnold Peralta could be the next man heading for the Ibrox exit this month as clubs in Spain and America weigh up a move for the midfielder.
The Honduran is likely to be allowed to leave if he can clinch a deal. Brentford, who last week snapped up Gers starlet Lewis Macleod in a cut-price deal, have also been credited with an interest in Peralta.
The 25-year-old has made just five appearances for Rangers this term and has not featured since the 4-0 horror show at Hibs.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article