Ross McCausland 'complex' Rangers injury leads Northern Ireland boss to hold talks with Philippe Clement

Rangers winger Ross McCausland "has played with pain" since limping off against Motherwell prior to the international break - and his "complex" situation has led Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill to hold discussions with Philippe Clement.

The 20-year-old will miss Tuesday's friendly encounter against Scotland at Hampden Park, a few days on from sitting out of the trip to Bucharest to face Romania last week.

McCausland was on the receiving end of a heavy challenge from Motherwell defender Dan Casey at Ibrox earlier this month which saw him forced off after 35 minutes. He returned to the matchday squad against Hibs at Easter Road but sustained a further setback thats saw him unable to continue before making an immediate comeback after being named on the subs bench for the Light Blues' Europa League last-16 clash with Benfica to ease fears of a serious injury.

O'Neill has now confirmed the player's situation is more complicated than it seems, but explained it isn't "particularly serious". He revealed talks have taken place with Gers manager Clement, who he believes never had any intention to use McCausland against Benfica.

O'Neill, said: "I don’t think it’s particularly serious. It’s a little bit complex from my understanding from the medical team. He was optimistic, but he has played with pain since he had the initial challenge and the injury.

"I spoke to Philippe Clement and they had him on the bench against Benfica, but I don’t think that realistically they intended to use him in that situation. He has got a lot to play for between now and the end of the season. We are conscious of that. So we don’t want to put him in a situation where we are bringing him off the bench and he is uncomfortable in that way.

"We just hope that he recovers quickly because the most important thing is that Ross is playing for Rangers and playing regularly because then we have got another player who is playing at a level where obviously we get a lot from that player playing on the international stage."