Nicolas Raskin: Rangers midfielder ruled out of Europa League opener against Real Betis

Nicolas Raskin has been ruled out of Rangers' Europa League group opener against Real Betis.

The 22-year-old midfielder missed training on Wednesday with a calf injury with manager Michael Beale confirming he will be out until after October's international break.

Raskin joins Todd Cantwell and Danilo on the sidelines with all three to miss Thursday night's match against the Spanish club at Ibrox.

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Beale said: "Nico Raskin is out with a calf problem - Raskin, Cantwell and Danilo will be missing.

"We still have options in midfield - we are losing a good player but we have good ones coming in.

"The injuries to Cantwell, Raskin and Danilo are not ideal - we hope Kieran Dowell will be back after the Livingston game.

"We have academy players coming through and there might be opportunity for them in the domestic games coming up.

"(Jose) Cifuentes came in late to the team and has had good chances in several games, but has been unfortunate at times. The new players have been here long enough now and they are ready to go."

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Danilo was forced off with a fractured cheekbone after scoring Rangers' opener at St Johnstone but the manager expects the striker to return sooner than first feared.

"Danilo has had a successful surgery on the areas impacted. He will be back in non-contact training come the end of the international break," he added.

Rangers dropped into the Europa League after losing to PSV Eindhoven in their Champions League play-off and Beale is determined to make an impact.

"We'll take it one game at a time, we need to get out the group and get to the knockout phases then we'll see how we go," he said.

"It's a competitive group, but we're expecting to get out of it.

"The level is high in this competition and your team gets exposed to things, hopefully it raises the level of our team and players.

"It's important we have a good season in Europe."

It is the second time in two years that Manuel Pellegrini brings Real Betis back to Glasgow - the Serie A side lost 3-2 to Celtic on their last visit in 2021.

"He's a lot older than me and has more experience, he's worked at some of the biggest clubs in the world," Beale said of Pellegrini.

"He's at a big club now and they're a good team. Last year they won their [Europa League] group unbeaten.

"Well have to be at our best. In out two home games [in Europe] so far we've scored four goals against Servette and PSV and in both games we felt we could have scored more.

"It's important we take the game to Betis as much as we can and try and create them problems."

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