Russell Martin insists he’s ‘not overly stressed’ about the mole in his dressing room after the Rangers team was leaked before their Champions League qualifying win over Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday night.
Unhappy with his players after a 1-1 draw at Motherwell last weekend, the Ibrox boss made the bold decision to drop skipper James Tavernier and star midfielder Nicolas Raskin for the visit of the Czech side, along with striker Danilo and attacker Kieran Dowell.
His team selection, which saw new signing Oliver Antman join Jefte, Lyall Cameron and Cyriel Dessers in the starting XI, was widely known hours before kick-off.
It had no bearing on the result or performance, with Rangers winning 3-0 to take a commanding lead into the second leg next Tuesday.
But, asked about the supposed leak, Martin said: ‘I was told when I turned up to the stadium because I’m not on any social media. I can’t really control any of that. It has become more common in the modern game.
‘I don’t think anyone would do it from inside this building to intentionally hurt us.
Russell Martin said he ‘won’t lose sleep’ over the dressing-room leak that occurred in midweek
News of James Tavernier being dropped reached social media long before the team lines
Tavernier came off the bench against Plzen and was congratulated by Martin at full-time
‘I always name the team really early as a coach or manager. It means people don’t waste time or energy wondering if they’re in the team and we can work on certain things.
‘But it’s the modern game. People are left out, they tell their agents, friends and family — then somehow it gets to the media quickly.
‘I trust that no one does it to try and hurt us intentionally. I’ve said to the guys, it’s not ideal. But I’m also not going to lose sleep over it.
‘I’m not sure it changes the opposition’s plan eight hours before a game as they’ll have done pretty much all of their work by then, I presume.
‘There’s enough stuff in this job to be concerned about and to focus on all the time.
‘So I’m not going to overly stress about the team being leaked.’
Martin will again be without Mikey Moore, Thelo Aasgaard and Hamza Igamane for tomorrow’s visit of Dundee in the Premiership.
Mikey Moore will have to wait for his Rangers debut as the club awaits international clearance
Moore — a 17-year-old loanee from Tottenham — is still waiting on international clearance, while Aasgaard and Igamane are working their way back to full fitness.
Martin is hoping to have Moore available for the trip to the Czech Republic on Tuesday, adding: ‘We’re still not quite there with Mikey. which is frustrating for him and for us.
‘Because he’s deemed a minor by FIFA (he turns 18 on Monday) there’s a lot of protocol to go through and we aren’t there yet.
‘It can take a while. He’s 18 soon, so he’d be available then for us. We might have to wait until then. But hopefully we’ll get him ready for Tuesday.’
On Aasgaard and Igamane, the former Southampton boss said: ‘They’ve both made good steps in the last few days. They’re working hard with the rehab guys, but not ready to be involved with the squad.
Thelo Aasgaard is not yet fit to make his first appearance since signing from Luton Town
‘Hamza missed two weeks because of the Visa thing (problem) so was behind the group. We’ve tried to speed up the process so that he’s ready to train.
‘But he played his first minutes and picked up an injury because the intensity was different. So now we have to get him really ready to perform and not risk being injured again.
‘In terms of the speculation, we’ve not had any bids for Hamza and he’s a really good lad.
‘He’s got on with it and is working hard with his English and everything else. He just needs to get fully fit.’
