Rangers take on West Ham United at Ibrox in their last pre-season friendly before the Premiership opener at Dundee United next Friday. Derek McInnes' side beat St Etienne 2-1 in midweek, with Lawrence Shankland scoring his first goal for the club and Cammy Devlin making an impressive debut off the bench.
Dragojevic absent due to visa issues
New signing Vanja Dragojevic, a £5million arrival from Partizan Belgrade, misses out after failing to secure his visa in time. McInnes explained: "We're still waiting for the visa, hopefully that'll come through tomorrow, it's just disappointing we never managed to get that all secured so the supporters could see him today." The Serbian midfielder is expected to receive a rousing ovation when he is eventually introduced to the Ibrox faithful.
McInnes pre-match thoughts
Speaking before the game, McInnes said: "You want to try and get a lot from it, in terms of fitness - ideally win the game, which is a good habit. I'd like to get a clean sheet...make sure we come through the game without any injuries." He added: "I think they've got about £50m they spent in January on the two strikers, so they've got a level of player you'd expect coming down from the Premier League, but it's a good test for us."
Team news
Rangers: Pandur, Sterling (c), Fernandez, Godfrey, Rommens, Devlin, Diomande, Aasgaard, Gassama, Curtis, Naderi. Subs: Kelly, McCrorie, Nsiala, Hutton, Nsio, Neil, Barron, Bajrami, Cameron, Chukwuani, Antman, McCausland, Shankland, Chermiti, Miovski.
West Ham: Hermansen, Walker-Peters, Kilman, Mavropanos, Scarles, Ward-Prowse, Kante, Lamadrid, Bowen (c), Pablo, Taty. Subs: Areloa, Herrick, Cornet, Potts, Earthy, Casey, Marshall, Golambeckis, Orford, Mayers, Ajala.
Historical context
The sides last met at Ibrox in a 2022 pre-season friendly, which Rangers won 3-1. Only three West Ham players remain from that squad: Jarrod Bowen, Alphonse Areola, and Tomas Soucek, with Soucek scoring for the Hammers that day. Earlier, in 1979, Rangers beat West Ham 3-2 in the Tennent Caledonian Cup, with the Hammers going on to win the FA Cup the following season.
Kick-off is at Ibrox, with both teams warming up ahead of the clash.
