The Rangers Football Club

Ibrox Stadium – 24/10/09 – 1500 BST
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Match Odds: Rangers 1.36 Draw 4.80 Hibernian 8.00

Knee injury victims Madjid Bougherra and Pedro Mendes miss out for Rangers, while Kevin Thomson is a doubt after injuring his shoulder in training.

Kirk Broadfoot and Maurice Edu are still recovering from long-term injuries for the home side.

Hibs boast a full-strength squad for the trip to Glasgow.

The Easter Road side last won at Ibrox in 2007 and are looking to be the first team to beat the champions in the Scottish Premier League this season.

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Rangers manager Walter Smith:

“This year I think Hibs will be challenging the likes of Hearts, Dundee United and Aberdeen for European places.

“That’ll be a big target for them this season and I think they’ve shown a capability of pushing for that so far.

“Hibs have had an excellent start to the season and John Hughes already has a good team coming together.

“He has pulled in a couple of players and brought them together with the existing players in his squad really well.”

Hibernian defender Ian Murray:
“We are confident because we’re playing well. But that can turn very quickly if you don’t keep the results going.

“I’ve been to Ibrox and I’ve been hammered before; I’ve been to Ibrox and had results before.

“But it’s getting it down on a consistent basis, going to Rangers one week and going to Parkhead the next week and coming away with points.”

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Rangers (from): McGregor, Whittaker, Papac, Weir, Smith, Naismith, Davis, McCulloch, Rothen, Novo, Lafferty, Boyd, Miller, Loy, McMillan, Fleck, Beasley, Alexander.

Hibernian (from): Stack, Ma-Kalambay, Murray, Hogg, Bamba, Hanlon, Miller, Cregg, McBride, Rankin, Stokes, Riordan, Zemmama, Stevenson, Galbraith, Wotherspoon, McCormack, Nish, Benjelloun, McCann.

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Match Odds: Rangers 1.73 Draw 3.50 Unirea Urziceni 5.00

Rangers FC have never lost at home to Romanian visitors in a competitive fixture and Walter Smith’s team will be looking to continue that sequence when they play host to FC Unirea Urziceni on Matchday 3.

• The Scottish titleholders are desperate for victory too, after following up their 1-1 draw at VfB Stuttgart with a 4-1 home defeat by Sevilla FC that left them bottom of Group G. They are level on points with their third-placed Romanian counterparts, who responded to a 2-0 loss at Sevilla by posting a 1-1 home stalemate with Stuttgart.

Match background
• FC Steaua Bucureşti provided the opposition on the three previous occasions that Rangers have faced Romanian sides at home in UEFA club competition. Their most recent meeting came in the 1995/96 UEFA Champions League group stage, a 1-1 draw at Ibrox.

• Rangers won the other games, 2-1 in the 1987/88 European Champion Clubs’ Cup quarter-finals and 2-0 in the 1969/70 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup first round.

• Ally McCoist and Ian Durrant, now on the Rangers coaching staff, both played in each leg of that 1987/88 tie.

• In their three away contests with Romanian opponents, Rangers have not fared anywhere near as well, failing to score and losing twice, drawing the other.

• Unirea have never faced a Scottish team in a competitive fixture.

• Before their heavy home loss to Sevilla on 29 September, the Scottish champions had shown impressive form at Ibrox in UEFA club competition. With qualifying ties thrown into the mix, they had suffered only a single defeat in 20 games.

• That sequence included ten wins and nine draws, the only reverse coming in their previous home game before the start of this campaign, a 3-0 defeat by Olympique Lyonnais which consigned them to third in the 2007/08 group stage.

• In the UEFA Champions League, qualifying rounds included, Rangers have lost two of their last 13 home encounters, winning five and drawing six.

Team ties
• Unirea coach Dan Petrescu played for Romania at Hampden Park, Glasgow, in a 1992 UEFA European Championship qualifier in September 1990. Scotland triumphed 2-1 with current Rangers assistant manager McCoist scoring the winner. Petrescu also played in the return fixture eleven months later, a 1-0 win for Romania in Bucharest.

• Petrescu scored for Chelsea FC in a 3-1 victory over Everton FC at Stamford Bridge in May 1999, during Smith’s first season in charge of the Merseyside club.

• Smith got a measure of revenge in 2000/01 as Everton beat a Bradford City AFC side featuring Petrescu 1-0 at Valley Parade in November 2000.

• For the past two summers Unirea have had a pre-season tour of Scotland. This year they played Celtic FC behind closed doors, drawing 1-1, and defeated Greenock Morton FC 3-1. Elsewhere on that tour Unirea lost 2-1 to English side Plymouth Argyle FC at Balgray Playing Fields in Glasgow and beat Ayr United FC 2-1.

• In 2008 Unirea drew 2-2 with Celtic and 1-1 with Livingston FC, as well as beating Saint Johnstone FC 4-0 and Motherwell FC 2-1.

McDiarmond Park – 17/10/09 – 1230 BST
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Match Odds: St Johnston 6/1  Draw 3/1  Rangers 1/2

St Johnstone captain Kevin Rutkiewicz may be forced to delay his return to the defence from a knee injury after picking up a slight back strain.

Steven Milne and Peter MacDonald are still missing through injury, but Filipe Morais, Jody Morris and Kevin Moon have returned to training.

Rangers striker Kris Boyd could be a surprise inclusion in the squad despite a fractured eye socket.

Defender Kirk Broadfoot and midfielder Maurice Edu remain sidelined.

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St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes:
“My players have shown a confidence. They feel they can mix it with the best in the country.

“Obviously Rangers is a tough ask, they will be buoyant after the Old Firm game.

“I think they are probably stronger as a team than they were last year.

“But the reason we worked so hard over the last year was so we could pit our wits against the likes of Rangers.

“If we can show the same confidence and the same ability that we have shown for the majority of the games then we can do well.”

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St Johnstone (from): Main, Mackay, Grainger, Gartland, Anderson, Morris, Davidson, Hardie, Craig, Morais, Deuchar, Samuel, Smith, McCaffrey, Moon, Rutkiewicz, Reynolds, May.

Rangers (from): McGregor, Whittaker, Papac, Weir, Smith, Mendes, Davis, Naismith, Miller, Little, Novo, Boyd, Lafferty, Loy, Fleck, Wilson, Rothen, Alexander.

THREE of Rangers’ SPL matches have been moved for TV purposes – including the next Old Firm derby clash with Celtic.

That game has been shifted back 24 hours and will now be played at Parkhead on Sunday January 3 at 12.30pm, with Sky Sports showing the game live.

The trip to Falkirk has also been shifted and while it will still be played on Saturday December 5, kick off will now be at 12.30pm. ESPN are broadcasting the fixture.

In between the two rearranged dates comes another, with Gers now due to visit Hibernian on Sunday December 27 rather than on Boxing Day.

Sky Sports are also showing that one as it happens, with kick off at Easter Road now set for 12 noon.

Here we have Jerome Rothen modelling the all new third kit for season 2009/10, it’s pretty plain, please vote in the poll to let me know if you like it.