Rangers

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Aberdeen striker Kevin Nisbet will be assessed after missing the win over Dundee United with a knock.

Dante Polvara (hamstring) is back in training but not ready to be involved and Pape Habib Gueye (quad) remains out.

Rangers midfielder Ianis Hagi returns from suspension while Tom Lawrence has recovered from a knock and John Souttar is available after being rested against St Mirren.

Ridvan Yilmaz, Oscar Cortes, Rabbi Matondo and Danilo are all working with the physios.

Rangers will borrow a further £4m from investors and have agreed to receive another £9m in loans. (Record), external

Director John Halsted is reportedly in talks to inject money at Rangers. (Sun), external

The amount paid by Rangers to settle a dispute with Elite was recorded as £3.8m in their annual accounts. (Herald - subscription), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish gossip

The stage is set for a Pittodrie blockbuster on Wednesday night as Aberdeen look to move nine points clear of a Rangers side who are aiming to inflict a first defeat on Dons manager Jimmy Thelin.

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Rangers manager Philippe Clement says he has spoken to his squad about the atmosphere they will face at Pittodrie on Wednesday evening.

Aberdeen would open up a nine-point gap to his side should they win, and with a sell-out crowd in the Granite City, many are expecting a lively affair.

He also praised former Aberdeen midfielder Connor Barron, who made the switch between the sides this summer and is likely to face a fiery reception from Dons fans.

"I've spoken to them about some things," the Belgian said when asked if the players know what the atmosphere will be like.

"Of course, we have one boy in the building who was there before [Barron].

"We also have several players who played there before, we have other new ones, so it's my task to speak about circumstances and the way a team will perform, how they will against us, so yes they know."

On Barron, he added: "I've worked with a lot of young players in my career as a player and as a manager.

"He is one of the most mature that I've met at that age.

"It will be the first time for him like that [playing against Aberdeen] but I'm sure he is ready for that and he is just focused on football.

"That is one of his strong points also, he is only busy with football and with his ambitions to become better and become better for this club, so I don't have any doubts about that."

With the potential for Aberdeen to extend their lead over Rangers with a win, Clement says this game is as important as any for his side to win.

He added: "We have to win every game. We have to win the first game of the season and we have to win the last game, so there is no difference in that, we always want to win every game.

"So it's going to be a huge battle."

David Currie
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Rangers manager Philippe Clement has been speaking to the media as his side prepare for a huge game at Aberdeen on Wednesday night.

Here are the key points:

• Clement expects a "big battle" against Jimmy Thelin's unbeaten Dons.

• He adds: "It's one of the biggest tests in this league, it is a really good challenge."

• He knows Rangers need to take the points because they want to win every game, whether it's the first or last of the season.

• Clement thinks a win at Pittodrie might change the outside perception of his team but stresses "there is a lot of confidence and belief" already in the squad, adding: "All the team has confidence to go there and get a good result."

• The Belgian is expecting a similar match to last season's 1-1 draw at Pittodrie, knows Aberdeen are a physical team, but says they play with fast transitions and have a good team mentality.

• He doesn't like to talk of one team or other being favourites.

• On Connor Barron returning to Pittodrie to face his former club for the first time, Clement says: "I have worked with a lot of young players, Connor is one of the most mature for his age. I am sure he is ready and is just focused on football, he only wants to become better."

• On the injury front, Clement adds that John Souttar and Tom Lawrence are fit to play but perhaps not for 90 minutes.

Considering Aberdeen survived what was seen as the first major test of Jimmy Thelin's buoyant new era by coming from two down to draw at Celtic Park, they will go into a home game against a vulnerable Rangers with growing belief of sustaining a title challenge.

Brendan Rodgers' reigning champions are the only side to have denied the Swede's side a victory in 15 outings this season - and nine of the victories, including Sunday's 1-0 win over Dundee United, have come in front of their home fans.

A 3-1 defeat at home to a less intimidating Aberdeen last September was a contributing factor to Michael Beale's demise as Rangers manager and the Ibrox side have failed to win at Pittodrie in their latest two visits.

Current Ibrox boss Philippe Clement arrives with grumbles among the fanbase growing over his own position just over a year since the Belgian took charge.

Rangers recovered from their insipid 1-0 defeat in Kilmarnock with a convincing 4-0 dismissal of FCSB in the Europa League, but they then laboured to a 2-1 victory over St Mirren.

Those wins were both at Ibrox. Away from Govan, Clement's side have only won twice in six outings this season and, in the Premiership, have taken all three points just twice in nine outings - one in their last six.

At least he knows how to beat Aberdeen, albeit winning their latest two meetings came before they came under Thelin's spell - and, again, those were at home.

Clement left Pittodrie with a 1-1 draw on his only visit there almost exactly a year ago, but a repeat would do little to ease the pressure on the former Club Brugge boss considering it would leave Rangers still six points behind the Dons and probably more adrift of Celtic.

Clement surprised many by dropping captain James Tavernier to the bench on Sunday. A return for the Englishman seems likely considering his 13 goals against Aberdeen is more than any player has against a single club since the Premiership was rebranded in 2013.

Read all the midweek Premiership picks

Jamie Currie
Fan writer

It was a good week for Rangers with two wins that were much needed - the 4-0 victory over FCSB was up there with the Malmo performance as the best of the season.

That display had all the aggression, intensity and quality that the performance at Kilmarnock lacked.

The quality of goals from Vaclav Cerny were a joy and the new partnership in the middle of the park between Nico Raskin and Connor Barron has given the team a decent base to build from.

It was much harder for FCSB to play through the midfield and the same applied to St Mirren on Sunday.

However, that match showed Robin Propper's unsuitability to Scottish football. Toyosi Olusanya had pace, power and good movement and Propper couldn't cope with it. We looked much more comfortable when he went off and James Tavernier came on, with Neraysho Kasanwirjo moving next to Leon Balogun in defence.

The St Mirren game is getting a lot of "oh here we go again" shouts in terms of performance. But we have seen it a million times with teams coming off a high and such a performance in Europe. It is all about winning the next one, whether that be ugly or with beautiful football.

There's another big week ahead and on Wednesday night we go to Aberdeen where, let's be honest, only a win will do.

It should be a good advert for the Scottish game but Rangers must go up north and end Aberdeen's unbeaten start to the season. Going nine points behind at this stage would be terrible and that's before you factor in Celtic.

The manager has big decisions to make. Who starts at centre-back and who starts in attack?

Rangers are going to need a Malmo or FCSB performance at Pittodrie to make sure they bring those three points down the road.

Rangers' next Europa League opponents, Olympiakos, have been hit with a major blow after key Turkey midfielder Yusuf Yazıcı suffered a serious knee injury. (The National), external

Rangers' Ibrox Stadium has been rated the worst-smelling stadium in the Scottish Premiership after it topped the charts for the highest number of odour-related complaints from visitors on TripAdvisor, more than double Celtic Park in second place. (Edinburgh Evening News), external

Read the rest of today's Scottish football gossip here

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Rangers managed to bag all three points against St Mirren despite an impressive performance from Stephen Robinson's side and Philippe Clement's men have one player in my Team of the Week.

Decidedly average again from Rangers, but not for the first time Vaclav Cerny was on hand to grab them another 3 points.

We asked for your views on Rangers' 2-1 win over St Mirren.

Here's what some of you said:

Josh: Another lacklustre performance. Can't think of any clear-cut chances apart from the one Cyrial Dessers created for the second goal, and the first goal which came from a rebound. Neraysho Kasanwirjo did okay but the rest of the backline were very poor. Another crack papered over for now.

Del: We play our 10th league game against Aberdeen on Wednesday night and that will likely be the league over for us. Too many excuses and not enough talent to counteract the terrible effort shown. Almost back to the Mark Warburton days. Shambles.

Tim: I can't help but think that fitness levels at the club have been nowhere near the required standards since Steven Gerrard left the club. We seem to be so leggy and lacking in energy when playing against teams who put up a fight. The midweek game will be a proper indication as to just how far off the pace we really are.

Anon: Every time they lose the ball to the opposition press, even when they are not being pressed, the game on Thursday was an example, and against Aberdeen this will be punished. The weakness of Robin Propper cannot be allowed to continue he should be third choice. Mohamed Diomande in midfield is a poor choice as is Tom Lawrence. How many games before the next injury?

Brian: Well where do l start, a new selection with a few surprises, did it work? Not in my opinion. Again, a display back to the Kilmarnock game, Rangers I’m afraid are not consistent enough. With the Aberdeen game coming up you just wonder what team is going to turn up.

David: Another lacklustre pedestrian display, simply not good enough to play well once in a while. The team needs to play with more tempo and urgency, players are better than what we are seeing. If Rangers lose to Aberdeen on Wednesday, Philippe Clement will be in big trouble.

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Neraysho Kasanwirjo reveals a pep talk from captain James Tavernier was “helpful” ahead of his first Scottish Premiership start.

The 22-year-old Dutch defender started in place of Tavernier as the right-sided full-back as the Ibrox side won 2-1 against St Mirren and the on-loan Feyenoord player was appreciative of the words of encouragement from the “father of the team” Tavernier.

“He [Tavernier] came to me before the game and he said just enjoy the game,” he said.

“He said to me don’t look at it like I replaced James Tavernier, just play for the team. And he said, just enjoy.

“Yeah, I think it was a lot [helpful].

“He’s the father of the team. I’m the young boy.

“So it’s good for the young boys to have somebody like this.

“Yeah, I want to start every week, but it is up to the coach and up to me how I train to give the best impression of myself.”

A midweek trip to Pittodrie is next for Rangers as they look to close the gap on second-place Aberdeen.

Kasanwirjo knows his teammates have to “compete again” ahead of what will be a fiercely contested fixture.

He said: “Yeah, of course, every game is a fight, not only Aberdeen, but for example, the game against St Mirren was a fight as well. You see that we didn’t win that easy.

“I think every game is a massive game. This [St Mirren] game, last Thursday, Wednesday, the Sunday again. So we have to compete every day.

“It is only about us. We have to play well. And as I said before, every game is a massive game, not only Aberdeen.

“So we look game by game. Sunday was the game against St Mirren. Wednesday is Aberdeen, where we have to compete again.”

The Sportscene panel discuss Rangers' performance in their narrow 2-1 victory over St Mirren on Sunday.

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Philippe Clement reckons Aberdeen are indeed title challengers as the Rangers manager prepares his side for a midweek trip to Pittodrie.

Second-place Aberdeen maintained their six-point gap over the Ibrox side with a 1-0 win over Dundee United, a result that temporarily lifted them to the top of the table prior to Sunday's fixtures.

After his own side's 2-1 win over St Mirren, courtesy of a Vaclav Cerny winner, the Belgian soon turned his attention to the Dons.

"I think they have done exceptionally well,” said Clement of Jimmy Thelin's side.

"If they keep this level all season then they will be in contention.

"But I’m focused on Rangers and raising our level month by month and making things better here with the squad.

"So I’m not busy with that, it’s still how many games to go until the end of the season, 29? So it’s still a long way to go."

The manager also praised Cyriel Dessers for his hard work and for the assist that led to the winning goal.

The forward left that pitch rather abruptly after an eye injury midweek in their 4-0 Europa League win over FCSB but Clement said that was his way of showing his "big heart".

He said: "I told you guys what happened on Thursday, and it’s Cyril with his big heart, and he showed his big heart also today, the way he came on

"So he loves this club, he wants to give everything to get results, and that he showed not only with the assist, but also when the ball went out, to make a fast throw and keep the tempo going on, higher than it was first half.

"So the striker is not only scoring the goals, he’s also giving assists and working hard, and that’s what he’s been doing".

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• Václav Černý has scored 4 goals in the Premiership this season (1 in this game), more than any other Rangers player.

• St. Mirren have lost their last 4 games in the Premiership, their last joint longest losing streak was from 19th March 2022 to 23rd April 2022.

• Ellery Balcombe has made 5 saves, the first time he has made at least 5 saves in a match in the Premiership since facing Celtic on 25th August 2024 (5 saves).

Rangers manager Philippe Clement admits he is not sure if Tom Lawrence or John Souttar will have recovered from injuries to face Aberdeen on Wednesday after the pair missed the 2-1 home victory over St Mirren. (Daily Record), external

A group of Rangers fans continue criticism over uncertainty at board level with a banner at Sunday's win over St Mirren reading, "your ineptitude is destroying our club, time for fans to force change". (Scottish Sun), external

Read the rest of Monday's Scottish gossip.

Were you at Ibrox on Sunday or following the game from home? Either way we want to hear your views on Rangers' narrow victory over St Mirren.

Have your say on the performance here, external.

Rangers manager Philippe Clement: "The performance could have been better, you need a third goal for that because when you score the third the opponent comes out more and maybe you score a fourth.

"It's about winning the points and about deserving to win the points and clearly today we created most of the chances and we scored two goals and two good goals.

"We had a really good performance on Thursday [in the Europa league] we had an ok performance today but we started with seven new players who weren't in the building two months ago.

"They need to get this experience to become better. That's a work in progress so it's important to take this well-deserved point."

Rangers manager Philippe Clement reacts to the 2-1 Scottish Premiership win over St Mirren and looks forward to Wednesday's trip to Aberdeen.

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

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Philippe Clement rung the changes following Rangers’ 4-0 midweek success, including the rare absence from the starting XI of Tavernier.

But boos at half-time and the introduction of Dessers and Tavernier in the second half showed Clement’s plan did not quite go the way he had hoped.

Cerny once again proved his importance but things look likely to only get tougher for Rangers.

Next up is a trip to Pittodrie to take on Jimmy Thelin's high-flying Aberdeen, who are yet to drop points at home this season, then Hampden beckons with the Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Motherwell.

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Vaclav Cerny once again proved his important for Philippe Clement's as he turned in the winning goal at Ibrox on Sunday.

Philippe Clement makes four changes to the team that started Thursday night's 4-0 win over FCSB.

James Tavernier drops to the bench while John Souttar drops out of the squad completely. Neraysho Kasanwirjo and Robin Propper are in from the start.

In midfield, Mohamed Diomande replaces Tom Lawrence and up front Cyriel Dessers is benched in favour of Hamza Igamane.

Stephen Robinson makes four changes to the side that started the 4-0 defeat to Hearts last weekend.

Oisin Smyth drops to the bench while Kevin Van Veen misses out completely.

James Scott and Elvis Bwomono are in for only their second starts of the season.

Forward Conor McMenamin is back on the bench after recovering from a knee injury, as is midfielder Dennis Adeniran after missing out last week with an illness.

• Follow live coverage of Sunday's SPFL action.