Aasgaard makes first start, no recognised striker: Rangers confirmed starting XI vs St Mirren
Russell Martin’s confirmed Rangers starting line-up to face St Mirren in their Scottish Premiership clash in Paisley
Russell Martin has named his Rangers starting XI to face St Mirren in this afternoon’s Scottish Premiership encounter at the SMiSA Stadium (12pm BST).
The Ibrox side will hope to end their recent poor form at a notoriously difficult venue, with head coach Martin yet to win a league match after dropping points against Motherwell and Dundee in their first two domestic games.
The pressure is now firmly on the Englishman to deliver a positive result in Paisley following their dismal European performance earlier in this week, with many supporters already asking questions if he is the right man for the job.
Team news: Fernandez, Cameron and Aasgaard drafted in
Martin has named THREE changes to his Rangers team from the side that lost 3-1 to Club Brugge in the Champions League play-off first leg at Ibrox on Tuesday night.
Emmanuel Fernandez replaces the suspended Nasser Djiga in central defence, while Lyall Cameron comes in for Mohamed Diomande and Thelo Aasgaard makes his first start with Danilo dropping to the bench.
Frontman Cyriel Dessers remains absent after failing to shake off a knee injury in time for today’s match.
What has Jayden Meghoma said pre-match?
“[Tuesday] was a learning curve for all of us. We know what we need to improve on and that’s the main thing for the team. There are a lot of things that we need to improve on, as you saw from the game, but the manager is keeping it tight in the group and we know what we need to do as a team.
“I knew that I was playing from the start. A lot of people were saying I was thrown into the deep end, but it wasn’t that. I was always excited to come here and play football.
“ I knew the gaffer previously from Southampton. It was quite quick in terms of that, and the transition happened within days. I was ready to play because of my pre-season which was the most important part.
“For us, we’re always focussing on the next game. Club Brugge is the second game and St. Mirren is next, so that’s where our full focus lies. Rangers are such a big club and the expectations are so high. I knew what I was coming into when I came here. It’s up to us as players to recorrect our wrongs.”
Here's your confirmed starting XI’s ahead of this lunchtime’s league clash in Paisley...
Rangers XI:
Jack Butland; Max Aarons, John Souttar (C), Emmanuel Fernandez, Jayden Meghoma, Nicolas Raskin, Joe Rothwell, Lyall Cameron, Oliver Antman, Djeidi Gassama, Thelo Aasgaard.
SUBS: Liam Kelly (GK), James Tavernier, Connor Barron, Mohamed Diomande, Kieran Dowell, Hamza Igamane, Mikey Moore, Findlay Curtis, Danilo.
St Mirren XI:
Shamal George; Marcus Fraser, Alex Gogic, Miguel Freckleton, Jayden Richardson, Killian Phillips, Keanu Baccus, Mark O’Hara (C), Declan John, Jonah Ayunga, Mikael Mandron.