Rangers have confirmed their starting XI for the Scottish Premiership clash against Celtic at Ibrox.
The Gers find themselves 14 points behind their Old Firm rivals with anything but victory sure to see the pressure intensify on under-fire manager Philippe Clement.
This will also be the final Old Firm derby without an away allocation in the Scottish Premiership, with visiting clubs set to take 5% allocations from here on in.
Rangers face something of a defensive injury crisis heading into the game and here is how Philippe Clement lines up for the match:
Rangers confirm starting XI v Celtic
Rangers have started the game with Liam Kelly between the sticks after Jack Butland was admitted to hospital with internal bleeding.
With James Tavernier also ruled out of the clash with Celtic, Ridvan Yilmaz starts at right-back for the side with Jefte starting the game on the left.
Rangers utility man Dujon Sterling then starts the clash against Celtic with under-fire defender Robin Propper starting alongside the defender.
Midfielder duo Nicolas Raskin and Mohamed Diomande then start in the middle of the park, with Ianis Hagi in the creative number 10 role.
Vaclav Cerny starts on the right-wing with Nedim Bajrami off the left and Moroccan striker Hamza Igamane getting the nod the number nine berth.
Nicolas Raskin has also been handed the captain’s armband.
Philippe Clement won’t focus on gap
Heading into the match, Philippe Clement refused to be drawn on the 14 point gap between Rangers and Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
The Rangers manager insists that his players must focus on their own game and taking their opportunities rather than the situation at the top of the table.
”You cannot look at the gap because then you lose yourself,” said Clement.
“We need to look at every game to take the maximum out of it. We’re very disappointed that we didn’t do that in the last two games.
”And that we get these goals against because those goals made a really big difference in those games.
”The team showed resilience to fight back, not only with creating chances but also scoring goals.
”Pity that it was not a third goal we could make and then you have another dynamic, you have another conclusion after the game also.
”Now you lose two points more so it’s now looking to the next game to go full for the three points.
”I cannot look in all the heads (of my players).
”But it would be stupid to think only about the gap and not to think about the next game.
“It’s about the next game always in football, if you’re in front or you’re behind, it’s always the case.
”We knew it would be a tough season in that way rebuilding a squad with a lot of young players against a squad who’s there already with a core for several years, who spent a lot of money also to create more depth in their squad.
”Because they knew there would be much more games than it was in the past to make a rotation also in that way in the squad to keep everybody fresh.
”So we knew that and we go full in the challenge.”
