Rangers return to Europa League action on Thursday night as they travel to Nice searching desperately for a much-needed victory.
While the Gers form in the European competition is actually quite good, their pitiful league form has piled the pressure on head coach Philippe Clement, with some reports stating a bad result against Nice could signal the end of his time as Rangers boss.
The Ibrox boss was boosted by the return of Ridvan Yilmaz from a three month injury lay-off at the weekend, but will head to the continent without the services of both Danilo and Ianis Hagi, with both ommitted from Europa League squad. Rabbi Matondo and Tom Lawrence remain unavailable through injury.
With Cyriel Dessers and Mohamed Diomande hauled off at half-time during Saturday’s drab 1-1 draw with Dundee United, Clement must decide whether to keep faith with the pair, or turn to someone new in order to breath fresh life into the team.
For their French opponents, the story is a little different. Despite losing just one of their last eight games in all competitions, Franck Haise’s side are five points behind Rangers in the Europa League table, having failed to win any of their opening four fixtures in competition. Failure to beat Rangers would effectively end their hopes of qualification for the knockout stage of the competition.
So who starts for Rangers this Thursday? Here, The Scotsman predict who will be named in the starting XI for the Gers clash against Nice:
5. LB: Ridvan Yilmaz
Made his first team return from the bench in the 1-1 draw with Dundee United at the weekend, and could find himself in the side for the game against Nice, as Clement opts for defensive ability over the attacking flair of Jefte. | SNS Group
6. CM: Connor Barron
A rare bright spark in a severely disappointing season for Rangers so far, Barron has been a virtual ever present for Clement. With his job hanging by a thread, the ex-Aberdeen man will be trusted to win the ball and recycle possession for Rangers. | SNS Group
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7. CM: Nicolas Raskin
The young Belgian is enjoying a run in the team at present and showing some glimpses of quality. | SNS Group
8. RW: Vaclav Cerny
There's no way Clement can't play him at the moment. The Czech forward is proving himself to be Rangers' biggest attacking threat weekly, so he will be in from the off against Nice. | SNS Group