James Tavernier axed as Cyriel Dessers call made - Rangers confirmed XI v Olympiacos

Rangers manager Philippe Clement has made three changes to his Gers starting XI for their showdown with Olympiacos.

Clement regular James Tavernier drops out of the starting XI for Thursday (7 November) evening's Europa League showdown in Greece, with Dujon Sterling slotting in at right back to replace him in the backline.

In midfield, the injured Tom Lawrence isn't included in the matchday squad, with Mohamed Diomande appearing to be the man to take his place in attacking midfield while Robin Propper replaces Leon Balogun at centre back.

Ridvan Yilmaz also returns to the substitutes bench having missed the majority of the season through injury while Cyriel Dessers continues to lead the line up top.

What has happened to Rangers boss Philippe Clement at Ibrox?

This is certainly not going to be an easy test for Clement and his side. Olympiacos are an incredibly difficult team to play against, especially at home and they will look to cause the Light Blues plenty of problems.

The question for the Gers will be whether or not their exciting, attacking players can get into good areas and have a major impact on proceedings.

Clement needs the likes of Nedim Bajrami and Vaclav Cerny to really step up and grab the game by the horns. At their best, both players can turn a game on its head single-handedly, but they have occasionally been guilty of being slightly anonymous.

Luckily, the Light Blues have been boosted by a few players returning to full training having recovered from injury. While it is still far from a fully fit squad at Ibrox, it seems as though things are beginning to go in the right direction off of the field.

Hopefully, the Gers will manage to find a way to claim all three points on Thursday evening. With big matches against Manchester United and Tottenham still to come, they really need a win to boost their hopes of qualification.

In other Rangers news, Cerny has been told that he looks like a "little boy" when he plays in the Scottish Premiership

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