Rangers will play rookie defender Danny Wilson in the centre of defence alongside David Weir in tonight’s Champions League match against Unirea Urziceni.
Madjid Bougherra remains out with a knee injury, leaving the door open for the 17-year-old to make only his third appearance for the club.
Walter Smith will be without Pedro Mendes, Kirk Broadfoot and Maurice Edu but will welcome the news that Lee McCulloch has overcome a thigh strain to be passed fit.
The versatile midfielder has been an option at the back but Smith has opted to bank on Wilson, who has started just twice for the club.
Smith praised Wilson’s “excellent” debut performance against Dundee last month. The defender was also part of the Rangers team who led Dundee United until the match was abandoned last weekend.
Rangers are seeking all three points from the match in Romania to help their bid to remain in Europe after Christmas. The Glasgow side have lost their last two matches in the competition 4-1 and are weathering a difficult period.
Their opponents, Unirea, sit just one point off the lead in their domestic league. A last minute Bilasco goal secured a 3-2 win over Craiova on Saturday and that match was preceded by a 0-0 draw at Pandurii and a 2-1 home defeat to Vaslui.
You can follow live text commentary of the match on stv.tv/sport. The match kicks off on Wednesday November 4 at 7.45pm.
Rangers: (from) McGregor, Whittaker, Papac, Weir, McCulloch, Lafferty, Davis, Thomson, Rothen, Novo, Naismith, Miller, Beasley, Smith, Fleck, Boyd, Wilson, Alexander.
