Some Rangers fans might argue that our chances of retaining our Scottish Premiership title ended the day that Allan McGregor had his worst game for the club up at Dingwall in the depths of winter, what should have been a comfortable win ending in a calamitous 3-3 draw.
This evenings fixture will be considerably less tense with Giovanni van Bronckhorst now having considerably bigger fish to fry over the next ten days, three points against Ross County a wee bit lower on the list of priorities than immortality and a European trophy.
There is a big decision to be made though in that we need to make sure our key players are ready for Seville and Hearts at the weekend is probably a little too close for comfort if there are any minor knocks.
With this in mind, this is who I think the manager should go with:
I’ve change my mind on this a few times now and I’m still not 100%. It all depends on which way Gio wants to prepare, we might yet see this sort of team against Hearts on Saturday instead with early subs getting made and the academy players that finished on Sunday getting another chance tonight.
Much will depend on the fitness of Joe Aribo and Ryan Jack but we have a few options if they aren’t going to be risked, one area where I think we will be pretty consistent will be in defence though, similar to the Dundee United game, I could see us making changes as the game goes on, if Leon King starts again I think Calvin Bassey will go to left-back.
It’s a fine line between maintaining momentum and keeping players fresh.
The results over the next two games don’t really matter although two wins would be great for the confidence, what does matter is that the players who will start in Seville are in the best possible condition physically. At least this time they have a chance unlike Walter Smith’s side in 2008.