Alfredo Morelos to start after Michael Beale drops early Rangers team news hint v Hibernian
Rangers resume their Premiership campaign v Hibernian on Thursday night, and new boss Michael Beale has hinted at a possible strike partnership.
Rangers host Hibernian in what will be Beale’s first game in charge. Victory will see Gers pile the pressure on Celtic at the top of the table by closing the gap to just six points.
Beale led his Rangers side to a 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in a friendly match last week, but his latest comments suggest he could switch things up for his first league encounter.
Beale opted to play Colak up top on his own against Leverkusen, but hinted this week that he is keen to play with two strikers.
“I certainly want to play with two strikers at times and you should expect that in the coming games that we play. That’s a little bit of a hint of what’s coming,” said Beale, as reported by The Athletic.
With that in mind, expect a huge formation change on Thursday night, with Colak and Morelos playing together up top.
That’ll likely result in Malik Tillman missing out, with Ryan Kent and Rabbi Matondo occupying the wings. Beale went with Ryan Jack and Glen Kamara as his central duo last week and we think he’ll stick with that partnership on Thursday.
Beale also revealed in his pre-match press conference that both Connor Goldson and Ben Davies have returned to training and will be available for selection.
“The quicker we can get Connor (Goldson) back it will make us a stronger Rangers for sure,” said Beale, as quoted by Glasgow Live. We expect the 29-year-old to return to the lineup – although playing the full 90 minutes is probably out of the equation.
Alongside Goldson, we’ve opted for 18-year-old Leon King. Beale revealed the young centre-back has extended his stay at Ibrox this week by signing a new contract.
Skipper James Tavernier will assume his usual spot at right-back, while Adam Devine will have to fill the boots of Borna Barisic with the Croatian making it all the way to the World Cup semi-finals this month.
In other Rangers news, Michael Beale confirms a senior Rangers player is set to sign an Ibrox contract extension