Philippe Clement faces another Rangers injury sweat after Dujon Sterling and Ross McCausland were forced off during the Scottish Cup win over Hibernian.

The Ibrox boss has been plagued by a series of fitness issues over the course of the campaign and made the trip to Easter Road without a handful of his most influential options. Abdallah Sima has been absent since withdrawing from the AFCON, while Danilo has all-but been ruled out for the rest of the season. The likes of Todd Cantwell and Oscar Cortes are also absent at present and Clement confirmed that Ryan Jack sustained a knock during the draw with Benfica on Thursday evening.

The Portuguese giants arrive in Glasgow for the second leg of the last 16 clash this week but Sterling and McCausland are now major doubts for the Ibrox clash. Clement will hold his pre-match media conference on Wednesday and an injury update will be top of the agenda once again.

“Changes or not, what I said before the game, I knew I was going to make a lot of changes during the game,” Clement said in the aftermath of a 2-0 victory at Easter Road. “I am not happy, of course, that Dujon and Ross had to come off. It is not a good thing. We are going to see in the next couple of days if they are going to be available for Thursday or not. We keep on walking in that road and we need to find solutions. The good thing is that all the team is involved in that way, we are working hard every time. I think every player in the squad has been important in that way and that has been our strength. We will continue like that on Thursday also.”

Clement selected the same starting line-up that produced a fine performance in Lisbon in midweek as a depleted squad was asked to dig deep on the return to domestic matters. Sterling was withdrawn in the first half with a muscle problem, while McCausland didn’t see out the evening after replacing the Englishman on the right flank.

There was good news on the fitness front as Rabbi Matondo returned after a month out but Clement knows his squad must become more robust overall if they are to continue challenging on three fronts this term. The visit of Benfica is followed by a trip to face Dundee next weekend in the final match before the international break.

“It is clear for everyone if you look now and four months ago there is a huge change,” Clement said. “You see it also in all the stats of the team. We are not there where I want them to be but for that I need preparation – what they missed, clearly, because still people are falling out and coming out and others falling out and coming back so there are only a few players really ready for what I want, and that is a competitive team who are there every three days with that intensity.

“We have a few like Connor, John, Lunny, Tav and there are a few growing in that way. But I want the total squad to be like that and for that you need more training and I cannot do that at the moment because we have so many games.  The thing is the solidarity – everyone working hard for the team in whatever position and that is why we get all these results.”

Goals in either half from John Lundstram – who converted after James Tavernier saw his penalty saved – and Fabio Silva won it for Rangers at Easter Road. Clement’s side will discover their semi-final opponents on Monday.

Hibs saw their chances of victory ended with quickfire red cards to Jordan Obita and Nathan Moriah-Welsh. The on-loan Bournemouth midfielder was dismissed for a lunge on Lundstram just minutes after Obita collected a second yellow.

“I didn’t see them back,” Clement said. “If you put a hand or an arm in the face you can get a yellow, that everybody knows. The tackle was a few yards away from me. It is a reckless tackle with the studs in front and it doesn’t matter then if you break a leg or not. It is just reckless. I think it is important to get that kind of tackle out of the game because we have seen the last couple of weeks sometimes when we didn’t get the red card.

“I was not happy about that also that moment. I think it is not good for Scottish football, English football, Belgian football, German football, tackles like that. Players need to know if you tackle like that you get a red card. It is for nobody good because it is a danger to injure someone if you go in like that.”