St Mirren v Rangers line-ups predicted: McCausland set for starting berth

Philippe Clement's men sit three points behind Celtic who travel to Dens Park later in the afternoon.

With the Ibrox club winless in the last three league encounters, will that change in Paisley?

Our writers select their Rangers starting XIs for the clash.

Chris Jack

Once again, Clement has big calls to make and injury issues to contend with. Whatever side he picks in Paisley, the three points are non-negotiable. Rangers simply must build on their win over Hearts last weekend and get their post-split schedule off to a winning start.

Clement put the decision to leave Connor Goldson out at Hampden down to freshness. If he is good to go this time, it would be a surprise if Leon Balogun drops back out of the side given how impressive he was in the semi-final. If Goldson plays, then John Souttar doesn’t.

Ahead of the centre-back pairing, John Lundstram and Mohamed Diomande will surely partner up again. Lundstram raised his game against the Jambos and Diomande provided a composure on the ball that had been missing during his absence with a broken thumb.

Cyriel Dessers must get the nod through the middle after his brace and all eyes will be on Todd Cantwell once again to provide the ammunition. To his left, Fabio Silva looks likely to come back in given that Rabbi Matondo didn’t catch the eye on his latest start.

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Derek Clark

The injuries to Abdallah Sima and Rabbi Matondo limit Philippe Clement's options in the forward line.

Ross McCausland performed well when he replaced the Senegalese against Hearts at Hampden last week, he should start but with Matondo also missing then an option may be to start the Northern Irishman on the left-hand side.

Fabio Silva hasn't done enough of late to justify a starting spot but expect the Portuguese to feature from the bench at some stage. On the right, we may see Scott Wright return. It provides Rangers with pace on both flanks with Cyriel Dessers continuing to lead the line.

That aside, don't expect many, if any, alterations to the team. The debate this week has centred around Connor Goldson and whether he will return but Leon Balogun and John Souttar deserve to keep the shirts after keeping Hearts at bay.