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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
David Irvine

Beale sets Rangers players 'stake a claim' challenge ahead of Scottish Cup semi-final

Michael Beale has challenged his Rangers player to stake a claim for a starting spot in the upcoming Scottish Cup semi-final later this month.

The Ibrox boss was forced into some squad rotation with six players unavailable to play against Stephen Robinson's St Mirren this afternoon.

John Lundstram and Fashion Sakala returned to the starting XI with Ryan Jack and Ryan Kent out injured.

Connor Goldson, Ridvan Yilmaz, Scott Wright and Antonio Colak are all also out through injury problems.

But Beale is viewing the enforced rotation as an opportunity for players to force their way into his thoughts for the Hampden showdown against Celtic later this month.

On the changes, he told Rangers TV: "They were both due to come back into the team anyway, so that's a good thing.

"Ryan has got a slight problem with his knee that keeps him out and Ryan with this bruise on his hamstring, he is out as well.

"There are opportunities for people to come in and stake a claim. We are two weeks away from a really important semi-final so now is a good time for people to grab the shirt.

Quizzed on what he wants to see from his side, he added: "I want to see energy, speed in the final third. We know at times we are going to be playing against a team who will have lots of defenders packed close to their goal, so how do we get in and around that?

"Passing and running, overlaps, combination play but also then our counter-pressing when the ball turns over to ensure there is no counterattacks but also to ensure we can be relentless in attack, wave after wave."

The Insider newsletter is the latest move by the team at the Rangers Review to bring content directly to you. We already have accounts on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Tik Tok and Instagram but we will also send exclusive bespoke opinion pieces every day at 5pm direct to your email. Not only will you receive this piece from one of our team of Joshua Barrie, Derek Clark or Jonny McFarlane but you will also get our list of the best content published in the last 24 hours. It's a handy way to keep abreast of what's going on amid all the noise surrounding Scotland's most successful club. You can sign up here in five seconds with just an email address.

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