Queen of the South come to Ibrox on Tuesday night fresh from a 3-1 defeat to Falkirk in League 1, ironically, on-loan Rangers youngster Juan Alegria getting on the scoresheet in the process, leaving them in eight place in Scotland’s third tier.
In short, Giovanni van Bronckhorst has a great opportunity to rotate his squad and should take every chance to play some of his first-team regulars who have been short of minutes recently.
On top of this there is the likes of Ridvan Yilmaz and Rabbi Matondo, internationals who are having to be patient – writing them off this early in their Rangers careers is ridiculous but, then again, it’s not really a surprise either.
If we are to see Leon King and Yilmaz starting then I’d expect the other side of the defence to have the usual pairing. League cup or not, Connor Goldson and James Tavernier will want to play and they usually do.
Youngsters like Charlie McCann should also be promoted, it’s just a shame that Alex Lowry is inured as he would have been a nailed on starter for this one too, Ryan Jack, Steven Davis and Scott Arfield providing the wise heads if needed.
It remains to be seen if it is too early for Alfredo Morelos or if Fashion Sakala will lead the line, again though, if his future isn’t at Rangers then Zak Lovelace or Robbie Ure should be thrown in to see what they are made of, there will still be plenty of experience around them to keep them right if they are.
The most likely scenario is that the team that takes to the pitch will have players who have featured this season and our most promising academy graduates, if we can get the job done early then Gio will have the luxury of being able to make changes.
The league cup remains the only competition that eludes us and to not have won it for more than ten years is ridiculous when you consider how successful we have been in the past – a convincing performance and the big names getting the night off ahead of a huge week would be greatly appreciated.