Rangers team news vs Lyon confirmed: Three changes as injured baller returns
Today at 01:48 PM
Rangers will face stiff opposition in Ligue 1 outfit Lyon with Philippe Clement looking to build on the good start in Sweden.
The squad is in reasonable shape and an early scare surrounding Mohamed Diomande was eased when the manager said that the Ivory Coast international would be available.
The nature of RangersEuropa League fixtures makes home games even more important, and this is how they line-up tonight to face Lyon.
Rangers team news vs Lyon
Clean sheets have been a regular occurrence this season with seven in 11 games.
Jack Butland has been at the heart of this and there has been a definite improvement with John Souttar and Robin Propper forming a solid foundation.
Jefte has settled quicker than even the Gers boss could imagine with the James Tavernier on the other flank.
The skipper will need to be at his Europa League best with Wilfried Zaha likely to be the man he has to keep an eye on tonight.
Not that Clement isn't fully aware of the step up in quality that this competition brings:
“It's a totally different competition, you need to do other things. It gets the best out of the players and the crowd.
“The European nights were the most special and I hope to see that tomorrow. Of course, we are also realistic about a very good team in Lyon. For me, it is the level of Benfica, who we met last season.
“If you see the difference in budget and the money they've spent, I know a lot of players from my time in Monaco and those they brought in for 20, 25, 30 million – it's a different world and we know that.
“But we will fight with our qualities towards them like we did against Betis or Benfica.”
Clement goes with consistency for midfield and attack
One of the key components of Rangers recent improvement has been consistency of selection, especially in midfield.
This has allowed Clement to tinker with positioning in and out of possession and the trio of Connor Barron, Tom Lawrence and Diomande have been outstanding in recent games.
They will need a repeat of the performance in Malmo on either side of the ball if they are to take all three points in front of a packed Ibrox.
Nedim Bajrami and Cyriel Dessers were rested at the weekend against Hibs but both come back into the starting XI with Vaclav Cerny taking the last slot in the team.
The Czechia international hasn't been in great form recently and was seen venting his frustration at the fans recently, hopefully, he is celebrating with them this time.
