Patterson starts for Rangers in Lyon as Van Bronckhorst rings changes

Giovanni van Bronckhorst has made six changes to his Rangers side for the Europa League match against Lyon, with Nathan Patterson starting the match in France.

The Ibrox side are already assured of second place in the group and progress to the knockout rounds, while Lyon have secured top spot with one match left to play.

That’s allowed Rangers manager Van Bronckhorst the opportunity to rotate his squad.

Jon McLaughlin starts in goal, with Patterson joining Borna Barisic, Calvin Bassey and Connor Goldson in defence. John Lundstram and Glen Kamara are in the centre of midfield.

Scott Wright, Ianis Hagi and Ryan Kent all start supporting striker Kemar Roofe.

Allan McGregor, Robby McCrorie, James Tavernier, Steven Davis, Jo Aribo, Juninho Bacuna, Stephen Kelly and Scott Arfield are on the bench.

Speaking the day before the match, the Rangers manager said: “No matter what, we’ll still be second in the group, but I think it’s still a good game for us against a good opponent.

“We can have one more game against an excellent side and for me in every game we want to reach our level.

“It’s good for me to see where the players stand, and where we stand as a team.

“Apart from the fact that we can’t go first in the group, the experience we have in this group is very good for our development.

“In the game tomorrow, we have got to watch closely the physical state of the players.

“It’s also a game where I can change some positions and give other player some minutes who need that.”