Leon Balogun gutted Rangers Euro dream was wrecked as he tells squad Philippe Clement won't accept 'foolish' thought

Leon Balogun admits he was gutted Mick Beale wrecked his Ibrox European dream.

But the defender is delighted to play his part as the Philippe Clement Rangers revolution gathers momentum. Balogun has been brought back into the fold under the Belgian boss after struggling to get involved under the former manager following his return to the club in the summer.

The Nigeria international was stunned when he was left out of the Rangers squad list for the Europa League – in a move that also mystified fans. The veteran admitted he came back to Glasgow to sample more of the big continental clashes that got his juices flowing in his first spell. The 35-year-old helped fire Gers to Wednesday night’s 1-0 win at Hearts but he’ll need to sit out next week’s crunch encounter against Real Betis. Balogun will be roaring on from the sidelines and he said: “Obviously I came back here looking forward to the European nights at Ibrox but the decision has been made seven or eight weeks ago.

“For now it’s just about me pushing the team on in my way that I can. In training, from the stands or sideline and that’s just my role now.”

Balogun is thrilled to be playing a role on the pitch again under Clement – and he’s convinced Gers are back in business under the Belgian. He said: “I think what you can see is there is a momentum we are creating right now.

“It would be foolish of us to now think, ok things are just going to go our way, but if I look into the dressing room to everybody, I hear the players on the pitch talking to each other, there’s no-one taking anything for granted or thinking it’s just going by itself so we have to keep building.

“Even the way we came off the last two games (Aberdeen and Aris) where we had a set-back, slap on the