Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Aidan Smith

Early Rangers team news vs Hearts as Michael Beale's squad list revealed

Rangers welcome Hearts to Ibrox tonight in their final home match of the Scottish Premiership season.

And ahead of the clash we have the early team news as tonight's squads have been revealed.

Alfredo Morelos, Borna Barisic, Glen Kamara, Scott Wright, Rabbi Matondo and Antonio Colak are back in training for Rangers but on-loan attacker Malik Tillman is back at Bayern Munich with a hamstring problem which has ended his season.

Ben Davies, Ryan Kent, and Connor Goldson are all out along with long-term absentees Kemar Roofe, Tom Lawrence, Steven Davis and Filip Helander (foot).

Hearts miss Alex Cochrane through suspension but fellow left-back Stephen Kingsley could be back in the mix after missing the last two games.

Liam Boyce (knee), Beni Baningime (knee), Craig Gordon (leg), Craig Halkett (knee) and Gary Mackay-Steven (foot) are all set to remain sidelined.

Ahead of tonight's clash, Michael Beale admitted Scott Arfield’s departure “pulls at the heartstrings” as he paid tribute to a quintet of Rangers players leaving Ibrox this summer.

Colombia striker Alfredo Morelos, winger Ryan Kent, veteran goalkeeper Allan McGregor and long-term injured defender Filip Helander will also depart at the ends of their contracts.

The Govan club also announced that veteran midfielder Steven Davis – another player soon to be out of contract – “remains in discussions to continue working with the club’s medical team to support his return to full fitness following a long-term ACL injury suffered in December 2022”.

Midfielder Arfield, 34, has become a fans’ favourite since signing from Burnley in 2018, although he has found regular starts hard to come by recently.

Ahead of the final home cinch Premiership game of the season against Hearts on Wednesday night, where the players leaving will be given the chance to say their goodbyes, Beale spoke about Arfield in the most glowing terms.

“Scotty Arfield – it pulls on the heartstrings, big time,” he said. “As a man and as a person, he has been absolutely fantastic around the place.

“He is adored by the fans as well, not only (by) his team-mates and staff.

“That was a real amicable conversation between the two of us over the last couple of months around playing time, how the squad will look and what Scott needs moving forward as well.

“You have to live the reality. He is a key player and gives a lot of energy to the building and his team-mates, but he needs to feel he will be involved and play from the start or have a significant involvement, and I can’t promise him that.

“A difficult decision to come to, but I think it is right for all parties.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.