The Scottish Cup campaign for this season gets underway tonight at Ibrox against Stirling Albion and the starting line-up has been revealed.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s has made wholesale changes, eight in total from Tuesday night in Aberdeen, with his selection as follows:
John McLaughlin – James Tavernier, Connor Goldson, Jack Simpson, Leon Balogun – John Lundstram, Ianis Hagi – Brandon Barker, Juninho Bacuna, Fashion Sakala – Cedric Itten.
On the bench we have Robbie McCrorie – Calvin Bassey, James Sands, – Charlie McCann, Leon King, Alex Lowry – Scott Wright, Kemar Roofe.
🆕 This evening's #RangersFC side to face Stirling Albion in The @ScottishCup.
👉 Full team news: https://t.co/Ekx495WqSk pic.twitter.com/yVVfB74i0A
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) January 21, 2022
Squad
It is definitely a bold and surprising line up from GvB, with a few players seemingly placed in the shop window.
For the likes of Simpson and Barker, they are completely in from the cold but given the level of opposition – with respect – they should still be able to make a positive contribution.
In attack, there is a look ahead to the next couple of weeks, with Fashion Sakala and Cedric Itten set for more game time with the international inforced absence of the main striker, Alfredo Morelos. The inclusion of Kemar Roofe on the bench is a positive for the team and he will be itching to stake a claim.
Quite simply, tonight is avout being professional and getting the job done well. Hopefully the tie can be put to bed early so that we may see the likes of King, McCann or Lowry.