Pedro Caixinha has given his biggest hint yet that he sees no future for a clutch of his Rangers first-team stars after leaving them out of his squad for their opening Europa League qualifier.

The names of defender Rob Kiernan, midfielders Andy Halliday and Matt Crooks and forwards Harry Forrester, Michael O’Halloran and Joe Dodoo are all missing from the list Gers submitted to UEFA ahead of Thursday’s Ibrox clash with Luxembourgish minnows Progres Niederkorn.

Reports yesterday morning claimed Halliday is the latest player to be informed by Caixinha his time is up in Govan.

According to the Scottish Sun, the boyhood Light Blues supporter has been told he is free to leave the club on loan this summer.

Caixinha is looking to clear out some of the dead wood left behind by predecessor Mark Warburton after signing up eight new recruits in recent weeks.

Kiernan has featured just once for the Portuguese boss since he was appointed back in March.

O’Halloran, meanwhile, was made to report for a fortnight’s worth of 6am training sessions after failing to turn up for an under-20s clash while Forrester has also been told to find himself a new club after failing to impress since the new manager arrived.

Meanwhile, Gers have confirmed Thursday’s clash against Niederkorn is a complete sell-out.

The supporters turning out for the tie will hope to catch a first glimpse of recent arrivals like Ryan Jack, Fabio Cardoso, Dalcio, Carlos Pena, Eduardo Herrera and Alfredo Morelos.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.