James Sands will remain at Ibrox this month after he was not named in the USMNT squad for their upcoming trio of World Cup qualifiers.
The 21-year old, who has seven caps to date for his nation will be available to Giovanni van Bronkhorst during the international window, which overlaps with scheduled Premiership fixtures at the end of this month, through to the start of February.
USA coach Gregg Berhalter named a 28 man squad, but on this occasion the new arrival to Ibrox has been omitted.
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Gregg Berhalter calls 28 players to Columbus for upcoming World Cup Qualifying matches ยป https://t.co/Vu7OxYf3kB#USMNT x @BioSteelSports pic.twitter.com/ooNqL5ATPv
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) January 21, 2022
With Joe Aribo still on AFCON duty with Nigeria and Alfredo Morelos to join with Colombia, it provides a relief to the squad depth ahead of an important run of games.
Now, Rangers will just be waiting to find out if Kemar Roofe will be joining up with Jamaica – though if common sense prevails, he will arrange to miss this call-up given his time on the sidelines for the Scottish champions and his fight ahead to get back in the team.
After Ianis Hagi’s injury against Stirling, with the damage to be assessed, there could be something of a selection dilemma ahead for GvB and a potential tactics tweak, depending on personnel available. An intriguing period ahead is set to follow but thankfully from a Rangers perspective, Sands is ready and available to be called upon.