Rangers have qualified for at least the play-off rounds of the Europa League ahead of the final group match against Union Saint Gilloise.
This would have been the aim for Philippe Clement when the draw was made, even if the manager can feel aggrieved at not taking more than one point against Tottenham Hotspur and Man Utd combined.
With a squad depleted by injuries, this is how Rangers should line up against USG to give Clement an outside chance of reaching the top eight.
Rangers predicted XI vs Union Saint Gilloise
To put the difficulty of Rangers’ draw into perspective, they have played four of the top eight teams in the league with two others still in with a chance of sneaking into the automatic qualification positions in the top 15.
The other two teams were Malmo, who won the Swedish league in December, and Nice, a Ligue 1 side with considerably deeper pockets than those of Rangers.
Not being able to add players to the Europa League squad makes it a difficult task for Clement to pick a defence with Neraysho Kasanwirjo back at Feyenoord and John Souttar, Dujon Sterling and Leon Balogun all out injured.
To make matters worse, both Clinton Nsiala and Rafael Fernandes will be watching from the main stand at Ibrox due to their ineligibility.
James Tavernier filled in at Old Trafford in the middle of defence and, in fairness to the skipper, was outstanding, including an inch perfect assist for Cyriel Dessers’ well-taken goal.
As things stand, Leon King is the only other option centrally, and his inclusion makes more sense given that Ridvan Yilmaz isn’t fully fit either.
There is no point risking the Turkey international.
Nicolas Raskin and Mohamed Diomande continue to grow as a pairing in midfield with Nedim Bajrami given another chance, either ahead of them or off the left-hand side.
The other option is to play Bailey Rice, but that would leave almost no natural width if Bajrami was picked too.
The Albanian is starting to contribute more in the final third in terms of getting defences turned and creating space with his passing, but fans will want to see more endeavour before they are fully convinced that the £3.4m has been well spent.
Academy prospect to get first start in Europe?
Hamza Igamane and Cyriel Dessers are an obvious pairing in attack with Clement having a decision to make on the right.
Zak Lovelace came off the bench against Dundee Utd and he should be rewarded with a start, his game time should be shared with Findlay Curtis, who has also impressed on his two appearances so far.
Given the lack of peril, it is the perfect opportunity to give more minutes to Lovelace, Curtis and Rice, even if it is only off the bench.
