De Boer out of United clash

Rangers have suffered a huge blow ahead of their Champions League game against Manchester United after Ronald de Boer was ruled out of the Battle of Britain clash.

The Dutch playmaker has been sidelined since August with a knee injury but had hoped to make his comeback in time for the visit of Sir Alex Ferguson’s men to Ibrox on Wednesday night but he suffered a further setback by suffering a calf injury.

Rangers will be desperate to take at least a point at Ibrox before facing a daunting trip to Old Trafford two weeks later, and McLeish admits the presence of a big-game player like de Boer will be sorely missed next week.

He said: “Ronald is out this weekend and he’ll miss the Manchester United game as well – I can’t put a deadline on his return.

“When he’s at his best he is a very important player but we need him fully fit before we put him back in the team.

“He pulled a calf muscle, which was another setback, and maybe he worked too hard to be back for the Manchester United game.

“He’ll be keen to be back for the game at Old Trafford but, again, I wouldn’t set any deadlines.

“When you bring a player like Ronald de Boer to the club – he’s a big name who wasn’t cheap – you look for them to make a difference on the pitch.

“We want him to be 100% fit and on the pitch.”

McLeish insists the mind games with former mentor Ferguson have yet to start and he claims to be focusing solely on Sunday’s visit to Motherwell instead.

Star player James McFadden has left the club since the last time the two teams met but McLeish believes Terry Butcher’s side have already proved they are just as strong without him.

He said: “Motherwell are in a better position now than they were this time last season with James in the side.

“Maybe his move has brought some other players out of their shells and they are all sharing the work-load and it’s not all down to one player any more.”

Rangers dropped three points the last time they travelled to Fir Park and McLeish will not tolerate a repeat of that result.

He said: “We played very poorly on the day and had four or five players not performing to their capabilities the last time we went to Fir Park.

“When that amount of players aren’t playing well then it’s very likely you will lose the game or at least drop points.

“We can’t have a repeat of that and I wouldn’t like to see players saving themselves for Wednesday – they should be trying to cement their places instead.”