Rangers travel to Russia to face FC Ufa in the Europa League play-off round.
Steven Gerrard faces his most important week as Rangers manager as the Gers fight for a place in the Europa League group stage against FC Ufa before facing Old Firm rivals Celtic on Sunday.
He watched on as Rangers conceded three goals against Motherwell in his 11th match as Gers manager – despite conceding only four in the previous 10 outings since taking over this summer.
Gerrard decided to play three at the back, but it was two set-pieces which ultimately saw Rangers fail to hold on to a 3-2 lead, as Peter Hartley scored an injury-time winner after apologising for his comments over Fabio Cardoso.
Now, Gerrard must rally his players for a crucial tie against Ufa, with the Scottish giants boasting a 1-0 first-leg advantage thanks to Connor Goldson’s strike in the first leg at Ibrox.
Kyle Lafferty, 30, scored two goals on his first start since returning to the club from Hearts, but he may have to tend with a place on the bench as the emphasis will be on defending the narrow lead in Russia.
Gerrard rested midfielder Scott Arfield against Motherwell, with the former Burnley man coming off the bench, while Ryan Kent and Daniel Candeias were also left out of the side with Gerrard using wing-backs instead.
Arfield, Kent and Candeias are all expected to return on Thursday, while it may be too soon for Lassana Coulibaly as he continues to recover from a muscle problem. Lafferty, Borna Barisic (ineligible) and Andy Halliday drop out.
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