Steven Davis names Rangers team for Europa League match against Aris Limassol

Steven Davis has named his Rangers team to face Aris Limassol ahead of his first game as interim manager.

The team have travelled to Cyprus for their Europa League test and are looking to bounce back from the 3-1 Premiership defeat to Aberdeen that saw Michael Bele sacked as manager.

Rangers are looking to build on their 1-0 win over Real Betis on matchday one and take another step towards progressing from Group C.

Ryan Jack and Jose Cifuentes have dropped out of the starting side, with Nicolas Raskin and Scott Wright coming in.

Jack Butland starts in goal behind a back four of Borna Barisic, Ben Davies, Connor Goldson and captain James Tavernier.

John Lundstram and Raskin are in central midfield, while Abdallah Sima, Sam Lammers and Wright play in support of striker Cyriel Dessers.

🆕 Tonight’s #RangersFC team to face @ArisLimassol.

🗒️ Full Team News: https://t.co/75uYBQBTgh pic.twitter.com/ESl8RplHr5
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) October 5, 2023

Davis was put in interim charge of the team following Beale’s sacking on Sunday and he will be assisted by Alex Rae, Steven Smith, Brian Gilmour and Colin Stewart while the Rangers board search for a new permanent manager.

Speaking at his pre-match media conference, he urged the players to “step up” after a difficult time.

“‘Listen, there’s a lot of character within the dressing room,” Davis said. “There’s a lot of leaders in there as well.

“Everyone knows it’s time to step up. The great thing about football is you get another opportunity to turn things around.

“It’s not a position we want to be in. Everybody is hurting from it.

“The main focus is first and foremost getting a result on Thursday and building on it from there.

“We won our opening group game. We are in a strong position and we want to build on that

“I think for us we just want to give the boys the freedom to go out and play to their strengths really.”