Philippe Clement will be hoping to see the Rangers of the second half, rather than the one that didn’t look remotely like one that knew what it was doing in the first in their last game.
Unfortunately, the manager will have to do it the hard way without Danilo and Ianis Hagi who aren’t in the squad for the Europa League.
Rangers will need to up their game considerably against a Nice side in good form and this is the confirmed team news.
- READ MORE: ‘I don’t agree’ Philippe Clement butts in on journalist with Rangers star caught in middle
Nice vs Rangers confirmed team news
The defence, regardless of selection, can’t seem to get out of the habit of giving up cheap goals every week.
Jefte has been in good form since getting a run in the team, but needs to do the basics of defending as well as contributing to the Rangers attack.
Clement also needs to settle on a central pairing with Robin Propper expressing his frustration this week about being in and out of the side.
But for his advancing years, Leon Balogun would probably be keeping him out of the team altogether.
The midfield pairing of Nicolas Raskin and Connor Barron has been one of the few areas of the park that aren’t a concern and they will have to work harder off the ball against Nice.
The No.10 position continues to give Clement problems though with the struggling Mohamed Diomande hooked at half-time at the weekend, he has been given a second chance though.
In attack, the biggest surprise has been Cyriel Dessers being dropped for Hamza Igamane, not that the former deserves to keep his place that is.
Rangers team:
- Butland, Sterling, Jefte, Propper, Souttar, Raskin, Barron, Diomande, Cerny, Bajrami, Igamane
How have Rangers fans reacted to Nice team news?
The big news is that Cyriel Dessers has been dropped with one fan questioning who really picked the team:
“No Tav and no Dessers? Who’s picked that team cos it’s certainly not big Phil.”
Another thinks that the line up might buy Clement a bit of time, “No Dessers or Tavernier, there’s hope for Clement yet!” They proclaimed with one not able to go any further than simply saying “I’m excited”.
Diomande seems to have escaped the axe, however, he is lucky that options in the attacking midfield role aren’t exactly plentiful.
What Clement has done, is shown that he’s had enough of some of his underperformers.
