Mark Warburton: Flair players need more protection

A row erupted after Nathan Oduwa was injured by an early foul in Rangers' 1-0 win over Livingston in midweek. Picture: SNS

RANGERS boss Mark Warburton is hoping that flair players will be given the chance to flourish in Scotland after the controversy surrounding his injured midfielder Nathan Oduwa.

The 19-year-old loanee from Tottenham was taken off at half-time during the 1-0 Petrofac Training Cup quarter-final win over Livingston at Ibrox on Tuesday night, with the first-minute foul on him by Kieran Gibbons causing uproar among the home support.

Oduwa “has trained well” and is available for selection for Sunday’s Scottish Championship game against St Mirren at Ibrox.

Warburton said: “Sometimes things happen for a reason and there is a positive out of a negative so to speak.

“I think for all teams, there may be an awareness of certain situations, put it that way.

“Nathan went off at half-time, it was a negative for us but going forward, hopefully there is close attention paid to flair players like Nathan.

“Every team has got their flair player, and it is about entertainment.

“We are in the entertainment industry and it is about looking after all the players, not just the entertainers but they are in the spotlight more often than not.

“He is 19 years of age, on loan from a Premier League club, who is learning the game.

“Our job is to make him a better player, so hopefully he goes back to Tottenham a better player having learned from situations such as that.

“He has to deal with it. Teams are not going to let you do what you want to do.

“The English Premier League is a physical league as well so he has to deal with it and move forward.”

Warburton confirmed that goalkeeper Cammy Bell has had a setback in his recovery from a knee injury and will be out until the New Year.

The former Brentford boss said: “Cammy had an operation a few weeks back. The problem wasn’t going away, it was nearly there but still niggling.

“It is important that he is 100 per cent right. He had a small operation and will be out for a few more weeks and hopefully we welcome him back early in the New Year.”