By Jonty Banks

18th Mar, 2023 | 11:21am

Nicolas Raskin missing from squad, Ridvan Yilmaz starts - Rangers confirmed starting XI v Motherwell

Rangers manager Michael Beale has named his starting line-up to face Motherwell at Fir Park in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday, 18 March.

The Gers stretched their impeccable unbeaten record in the league since Beale’s arrival to 14 games with a 4-1 win against Hibernian a fortnight ago before booking their spot in the Scottish Cup semi-finals with a dominant victory over Raith Rovers.

As shared via the club’s official Twitter account (18 March), Beale has made two changes from the team who progressed in the cup competition to face Old Firm rivals Celtic in the last four.

Ryan Jack and Ridvan Yilmaz come into the starting line-up in place of Borna Barisic and Nicolas Raskin, who are both missing from the matchday squad.

Faultless league form

For a man who has only dropped two points from 14 league games since arriving at Ibrox, Michael Beale has his fair share of critics.

From Chris Sutton to Barry Ferguson, the Gers boss was slammed for his team’s performance in the Viaplay Cup final against Celtic, and although poor on that day, Rangers have looked a much-improved team since then.

A new-look midfield trio of Jack, Raskin and Todd Cantwell has been an exciting combination over the past couple of weeks and looks to tick all the boxes so far.

The litmus test for these three players isn’t likely to be against Motherwell, who currently sit ninth in the Scottish Premiership, but the Steelman mustn’t be taken lightly.

A run of three wins in their last four matches has seen Rangers’ opponents draw clear of the bottom three in the table and start setting their sights on finishing the season middle of the pack.

In other Rangers news, a pundit with insider information at Ibrox has shared one condition that will make Douglas Park leave the club.