Glasgow Rangers have a crucial fixture coming up as they face Willem II in the Europa League third qualifying round. Steven Gerrard will be hoping they advance to the playoff round, and if they do, they will take on either Galatasaray or Hajduk Split.

There looks to be a blow for the Gers ahead of the game though, as they have announced their squad and one noticeable name is missing.

On the official UEFA site you can see the squad that the Scottish side have submitted for the game and it shows that summer signing Leon Balogun will not be travelling to the Netherlands with the club.

The centre-back picked up a minor injury back in August after they played St. Johnstone and returned too early by the looks of it as in mid-September he pulled up in the warm-up against Dundee United and had to be replaced in the starting line-up. He was on the bench for their 2-2 draw against Hibernian at the weekend, but did not feature.

The defender has played three games in the Scottish Premiership for the club since he arrived on a free transfer in the summer, and he has picked up an average rating of 7.47, per SofaScore, which is very respectable and his stats show he has been solid as he has averaged two interceptions, 1.3 tackles and 2.3 clearances per game.

In the three matches he played the Gers have won and also kept clean sheets in all three so it does show he definitely has a very good impact in the back line.

Therefore he will be a loss for Gerrard in their crucial game and he will be hoping that the defence can still be strong without him. They should realistically be ok as they have Filip Helander, who is very experienced in Europe, and Connor Goldson, who has captained the side before so it shows how trusted he is by the manager.

Hopefully Balogun will be returning soon and the Gers will want to have every player available to make sure they have good squad depth for the season.

Glasgow Rangers fans, what are your thoughts on this news? Comment below!