Rangers v Livingston: Jose Cifuentes to make first start for Ibrox side
- Published
Cifuentes will make his first start for Rangers against Livingston
Jose Cifuentes will make his first Rangers start against Livingston at Ibrox on Saturday, manager Michael Beale has revealed.
The Ecuador midfielder, 24, arrived on a four-year deal from Los Angeles FC last week.
He was an unused substitute in the opening league loss at Kilmarnock and came off the bench in Wednesday's 2-1 win over Servette in Champions League qualifying.
"He is ready to go now," said Beale.
Cifuentes replaced Ryan Jack after 77 minutes against the Swiss side and was playing regularly in the MLS from early March to mid-July.
"He is playing tomorrow," explained Beale.
"He is a prime example. He didn't get in until late on the previous Thursday, a bit of jet lag but I wanted him to be on the bench just to see Scottish football.
"There's eight substitutes, let's just get him there so he can understand the environment.
"He has just only moved into his new place the last couple of days so he is in and out of a hotel.
"I thought he was quite good when he came on the other night in a small glimpse but now I think he is ready.
"He has been playing since January. He knows his team-mates, there is ever such a small language barrier because he speaks decent enough English and he is ready to go now and I am looking forward to watching him."
Of the nine summer arrivals at Ibrox, Cifuentes is the only one without experience of playing in Europe but, with four new forwards on the books, partnerships are just developing.
"A lot of the ideas are the same, but the squad has been reloaded, with players coming from different countries, families settling in," said Beale.
"You have to take the human element, but, from what I'm seeing, I'm happy.
"It's intense here, as I'm sure they are already aware, but every day they will get stronger. I've got a lot of faith in them."
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