It would perhaps be a bit of a stretch to describe this, as Rangers held Tottenham Hotspur to a draw in the Europa League, as a ‘coming of age’ performance from one member of Philippe Clement’s squad.

That probably came last time out, after all, as Rangers destroyed Nice on their own Allianz Riviera turf.

But, as he opened the scoring during Rangers’ 1-1 draw with Ange Postecoglou’s struggling Spurs, this felt like a night where Hamza Igamane not quite burst onto the scene, but rather confirmed his status as one of the game’s most promising young centre-forwards.

The goal which gave Rangers the lead just after half-time was not quite as eye-catching as the finishes he produced against Nice, Kilmarnock or, in particular, Ross County. It was, however, a classic centre-forwards strike from a man who appears to have all the makings of a potentially elite number nine.

From a trademark James Tavernier delivery, Igamane could hardly have controlled his volley any better. Taking all the pace off the cross, he guided it beautifully and effortlessly past Fraser Forster in the Tottenham goal.

That was Igamane’s sixth goal in five Rangers games, justifying his continued selection over Cyriel Dessers in Philippe Clement’s starting XI.

But, as midfielder Nico Raskin told the media at full-time – the Belgian delighting Clement with another exceptional Europa League display – it is not just his finishing which marks Igamane out as a bonafide Rangers revelation.

Nico Raskin lauds Hamza Igamane after Rangers’ Tottenham draw

“He is flying. But it is not only about the way he scores goals it is about the work he is doing without the ball,” Raskin explains. “It is about holding the ball for us. He is doing a great job so we can only be pleased with him.”

Hamza Igamane has been likened to Alfredo Morelos in the way he can drop deep, link the play and bully defenders with his broad-shouldered physicality. And, as Rangers outplayed Tottenham for the majority of Thursday’s clash, Igamane refused to give the opposition even a moments peace.

The concern of course is that, with the Scottish League Cup final against Celtic looming on Sunday, Rangers were forced to remove Igamane from proceedings in the 80th minute after he seemingly picked up a knock. John Souttar faces a race against time to be involved at Hampden.

Philippe Clement sweating over Hamza Igamane and John Souttar

“Your first question about John and Hamza, I cannot say anything for the moment. It’s too close after the game,” Clement said when quizzed about the in-form pair. “I wish I could because that would ease my mind but it’s not the case.

“So, we will see in the next two days how it is with them.

“And, about freshness, we’re not going to think about that. We’re going to recover as fast as possible and best as possible and we’re going to throw all our energy into that game at Hampden to give our fans again the good feeling that they had last season in this League Cup.

“And it’s good in that way also [that the players have] a lot of belief in what they are doing individually and also together to play a really good game against Celtic.”

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