Rangers vs Jagiellonia predicted XI: Vanja Dragojevic axed as injury crisis hits

Rangers will battle to keep their Europa League hopes alive against Jagiellonia on Thursday night.

Needless to say, but this is a match that Derek McInnes can't afford to lose.

The 55-year-old is winless from his opening three competitive fixtures as Rangers boss, and pressure from the Ibrox faithful is starting to mount.

Jagiellonia hold a one-goal advantage after a 2-1 first-leg win in Poland last week, leaving Gers with plenty of work to do in Govan if they want to progress to the Europa League play-off.

Not qualifying for the Europa League would be a huge early-season failure for McInnes, and one that Rangers chiefs won't have planned for in terms of the financial implications of that either.

So, ahead of Thursday night's crucial clash, Ibrox News attempts to predict how McInnes will line his Rangers starting XI up against Jagiellonia.

Derek McInnes to make Rangers formation change vs Jagiellonia

Rangers have been dealt some major blows this week, with Youssef Chermiti suffering an ACL injury, whilst Tuur Rommens has picked up a groin strain that could sideline him for weeks.

Therefore, we're expecting McInnes to revert to a back four against Jagiellonia, having gone with a 3-5-2 in the 2-1 defeat to Hibernian.

In goal, Ivor Pandur is likely to keep his place despite the fact he's not enjoyed a great start to his Rangers career, but is surely still a stronger option than Liam Kelly, respectfully.

Replacing Rommens at left-back is likely to be Dujon Sterling, with Ross McCrorie stepping back in on the right.

In central defence, we're backing McInnes to stick with Emmanuel Fernandez and Olwethu Makhanya, as they were both two of Rangers' best players against Hibs.

So, with a couple of changes to the backline, how might McInnes structure his midfield on Thursday night?

Dragojevic benched as McInnes ruthless in must-win Jagiellonia match

McInnes played with a midfield five against Hibernian, but we think he'll switch to a 4-2-3-1 against Jagiellonia.

Vanja Dragojevic was handed his full Rangers debut against Hibs, but he conceded the 12th-minute penalty and was booked for doing so, before being hooked at half-time in a forgettable outing.

As a result, we're tipping McInnes to be ruthless and sacrifice the Serbian international to keep order in defence.

So, we think Cammy Devlin and Nicolas Raskin will form the central midfield pairing, with the former in particular playing well against Hibs.

On the left, Findlay Curtis should keep his place in the team after impressing in the Hibs defeat, whilst over on the right, this could be a good opportunity for Djeidi Gassama to return to the starting XI in place of Daisuke Yokota.

The Japanese winger is still finding his feet in Glasgow, whilst Gassama is yet to find his role under McInnes, but is a match-winning talent on his day and that's exactly what Rangers need on the pitch this Thursday.

Operating as the number 10 will likely be Thelo Aasgaard, as he's a player with superb technical ability and has the ability to pull the strings in attack, as witnessed in his performance against Dundee United.

That just leaves the striker position to fill, and might McInnes have a tougher decision than some may think here?

Shankland needs to find Rangers shooting boots fast

Given his deadly goalscoring record with Hearts, many expected Lawrence Shankland to immediately hit the ground running with goals as a Rangers player, especially working under McInnes once again.

Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case for the 31-year-old, as he's yet to find the net from Gers' opening three competitive games this season.

He did everything but score against Hibernian though, and looked Rangers' most likely to find the net, and so surely he will officially open his Gers account soon.

And after only playing five minutes against Jagiellonia in the first leg, McInnes will surely be going full strength on Thursday night in order to ensure Rangers progress, and that must mean starting Shankland.

Ryan Naderi continues to look like a raw and unreliable talent at present, whilst Bojan Miovski may return to the matchday squad after Chermiti's injury, but he's yet to be handed a competitive minute by McInnes.