Barry Ferguson suggests ‘fantastic’ Rangers teenager could play key role vs Athletic Bilbao

The Rangers support can expect big ‘changes’, Barry Ferguson promises, ahead of Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final first-leg with Athletic Bilbao on Thursday night.

Because, as David Gray’s Hibernian consigned Rangers to a fifth successive Ibrox defeat, a ‘fuming’ Ferguson wasted little time in telling his under-performing starters that they can expect a place on the bench when Ernesto Valverde’s La Liga giants come to town.

Exactly who Ferguson was referring to, well, that remains to be seen.

Jack Butland was Rangers’ hero in the penalty shoot-out victory over Fenerbahce in the last-16. Another domestic blunder – Butland gifted Dylan Levitt the opener for Hibs with just eight minutes on the clock – means his position feels increasingly untenable with the experienced Liam Kelly waiting in the wings.

Ferguson himself described Butland’s latest blunder as a ‘bad error’.

Cyriel Dessers endured one of those off-days in front of goal, meanwhile, Connor Barron and Mohamed Diomande were largely anonymous in Rangers’ engine room, and Hamza Igamane barely registered as a threat in a left-wing role which restricted him to just one attempt on goal throughout his 88 minutes on the pitch.

Barry Ferguson promises Rangers ‘changes’ and hints at Bailey Rice role

The likes of Ianis Hagi, Danilo and maybe even Nedim Bajrami – the Albanian rattled the woodwork shortly after replacing Vaclav Cerny – therefore stand to benefit from their teammate’s failings as Athletic loom on the horizon.

Ferguson’s obvious desire to have Bailey Rice available after a knee injury ruled the teenager out against Hibernian also made for intriguing, pre-Athletic reading.

The interim boss felt Rice was a driving force behind Rangers’ 4-3 comeback victory over Dundee a week prior. While clearly far from the finished article, the 18-year-old could prove useful with his energy and composure against Spanish opposition likely to dominate much of the possession.