Glasgow Rangers are back in action for the first time since Christmas this afternoon as they prepare to welcome Motherwell to Ibrox in the Scottish Premiership.

The Light Blues need a positive result to bounce back from the disappointment of losing 2-1 to league leaders Hearts at Tynecastle last weekend.

In order to get back to winning ways in front of their own supporters, Danny Rohl should change the formation that he started the game against Hearts with.

Why Rangers should change their formation against Motherwell

The Light Blues have played a 3-4-2-1 system with Max Aarons and Jayden Meghoma as wing-back options in the last two games, and only scored two goals – against Hibernian and Hearts – in that time.

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Aarons, in particular, has not looked up to the task in possession to make that formation work, as he does not carry enough of a threat in one-on-one situations to be the team’s only outlet on the right flank.

Per Sofascore, the English wing-back only completed one of his 12 attempted crosses and created just two chances in 150 minutes of action against Hibernian and Hearts, whilst failing to create a single ‘big chance’ for the side.

Aarons has only created one ‘big chance’ and is yet to register a single assist in 12 Premiership appearances for Rangers this season so far, so it is not a surprise to see him struggling offensively in a wing-back role.

This is why Rohl should change the formation to play a more defined four at the back system, with the captain James Tavernier at right-back, and drop the Bournemouth loanee from the side.

How Rohl can permanently bench Aarons

The German head coach can permanently bench Aarons by moving to a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation on a regular basis, with Tavernier or the fit-again Dujon Sterling starting at right-back instead, by unleashing Findlay Curtis ahead of him.

Bringing the academy graduate into the side, starting with today’s clash with Motherwell, over the Englishman would allow Rohl to change the formation from a 3-4-2-1 to a 4-2-3-1.

How playing Curtis can change the Rangers system

Vs Hearts

Vs Motherwell

GK: Butland

GK: Butland

RCB: James Tavernier

RB: James Tavernier

CCB: Dujon Sterling

CB: Dujon Sterling

LCB: Emmanuel Fernandez

CB: Emmanuel Fernandez

RWB: Max Aarons

LB: Jayden Meghoma

CM: Connor Barron

CM: Connor Barron

CM: Nico Raskin

CM: Nico Raskin

LWB: Jayden Meghoma

RW: Mikey Moore

AM: Mo Diomande

AM: Mo Diomande

AM: Mikey Moore

LW: Findlay Curtis

ST: Bojan Miovski

ST: Bojan Miovski

As you can see in the XIs above, bringing Curtis in for Aarons against Motherwell could completely change the system, with the skipper moving to centre-back, Mikey Moore moving out wide, and the youngster coming in on the left flank.

The 19-year-old forward, as expected, is still learning and developing as a player, which has resulted in a few subpar performances. Against Hibernian, for example, the Scottish teenager only created one chance and lost six of his nine ground duels in 69 minutes of action.

However, the “Boy Wonder” has shown plenty of signs of promise in a Rangers shirt this season, including the goal in the clip above against Panathinaikos in the Champions League qualifying round.

The left-sided attacker, per Transfermarkt, has scored three goals in 407 minutes of football across 15 appearances in all competitions for the Light Blues this term, which shows that he does have the potential to offer a threat in the final third.

Giving Curtis more first-team exposure to help him adapt to playing for the Gers in the Premiership could fast-track his development and help to create a quality player for the club moving forward.

Subscribe to the newsletter for Rangers tactical insight Get sharper matchday context by subscribing to the newsletter – it offers deeper Rangers analysis: tactical breakdowns of formation shifts, lineup debates and youth development to give fans clear, evidence-based perspectives. Subscribe Subscribe to the newsletter for Rangers tactical insight Get sharper matchday context by subscribing to the newsletter – it offers deeper Rangers analysis: tactical breakdowns of formation shifts, lineup debates and youth development to give fans clear, evidence-based perspectives.

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Providing an academy player with a platform to develop is more helpful to Rangers for the long-term than playing a loanee who they do not have an option to sign permanently, in Aarons, out of position as a wing-back.

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That is why Rohl should permanently bench the former Norwich and Valencia man by changing the formation to improve the attack and offer Curtis more minutes to aid his development.

The change in formation to a more attacking 4-2-3-1 could leave Aarons permanently benched because Tavernier and Sterling could carry out the right-back duties as starters, leaving him as a back-up option.

According to Calciomercato, via Il Corriere dello Sport, Manchester United have made an offer in the region of €50 million for AC Milan’s star centre-back, Alessio Romagnoli.

Romagnoli is valued at £36 million already by Transfermarkt, despite being only 23, a tender age for a centre-back.

Romagnoli has been a regular at the highest level in Italy for years now and has proven himself to be one of the finest centre-backs in Europe. He is also the perfect centre-back for Mourinho’s Manchester United. 

The list of the Red Devils’ current options in this position is uninspiring; Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof. Only Bailly stands out as being of supreme quality, and unfortunately, his injury record makes him an unreliable presence. 

The Breakdown

This United side lacks what the club’s great sides of old all had – an ever-present rock at the back. Be it Rio Ferdinand, Steve Bruce or Nemanja Vidic. Those individuals were the granite foundations upon which all of those league and cup triumphs were built.

Alessio Romagnoli could be that pillar of certainty for a new generation of successful United sides. 

Time is on his side, and in Mourinho, he would find a manager at Old Trafford who knows how to organise and cultivate an elite defensive unit. Mourinho would make Romagnoli a better player, and Romagnoli would make United a better team.

The Italian international has all the attributes needed to make it as a world class modern centre-back. 

He originally came through the youth ranks at Roma as a midfielder, before having his position converted. This experience in the middle of the park developed the youngster into an excellent ball player, who is confident in possession and able to instigate attacks from the back with regularity.

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His more traditionally defensive skills don’t let him down either, with his focus, positional sense and decision making being widely praised, and standing out as much as his physical prowess and aerial ability do. Romagnoli is a leader and has been compared with the legendary Alessandro Nesta for a reason. 

He is exactly what Mourinho and Manchester United need. 

The Goa middle order put up a brave fight but there was preciouslittle substance in the rest of the batting and Andhra took firstinnings points as their rain affected three day KSCA Coca Cola Trophymatch ended in a draw in Bangalore on Tuesday.Andhra declared at the overnight total of 285 for five. Goa’s toporder made a mess of things and at 65 for four, they were down in thedumps. However Amit Jadav and Gaurish Phadte initiated the recoveryprocess by adding 77 runs off 34.1 overs. Phadte’s 42 was scored off116 balls and was inclusive of six boundary hits. Jadav and S Misquinthen kept the momentum going with a sixth wicket partnership of 36runs off 12 overs before Jadhav was out for a gallant 50. He faced 160balls and hit three fours and two sixes. Once Jadhav was sixth out at178, the tail offered little resistance. Misquin made a valuable 34off 60 balls with four fours and two sixes but Goa were all out for204 off 86.4 overs. Balaji Krishna Singh was the most successfulbowler with four for 51. Due to dampness of the pitch, play started 50minutes late. Andhra got five points and Goa three.

	Firm backing: Anil Kumble comes out in support of Rahul Dravid © Getty Images

Anil Kumble has firmly backed Rahul Dravid, the captain of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, and said it was time “people who matter” understand what sports is all about.Kumble’s statement comes in the wake of the comments made by Vijay Mallya, the liquor baron who owns the franchise, where he defended his decision to sack Charu Sharma, the CEO, and also said his biggest mistake was to trust Dravid on matters of team selection.”What’s important though, is that at this time, you need all the support and backing you can get,” Kumble wrote in his column for . “You need the people around you, the people who matter, to understand what sport is all about, to realise that no one goes out there to lose.”What’s unfortunate is that, invariably, everyone starts pointing fingers at the captain. So it stands all the more to reason that people within the camp then stand up and say ‘we believe in you and your team’. That’s what’s most important in this kind of situation. I do understand that the IPL is different and there is a corporate look and feel to the whole concept. But having said that, at the end of the day, it is a cricket match – one that a cricketer does not want to lose.”Kumble admitted that his side had fallen too far back in the tournament – after losing seven of their first nine games – but felt there was still an opportunity to get back the winning feeling. “As players, we go through various ups and downs in our careers, there are phases when nothing one does is wrong and there are others where the same things that come so naturally to you seem like alien concepts,” he wrote.”But as cricketers, we also know the bad times will pass, that we will pick ourselves up and bounce back. There’s nothing new in that and I expect we will here too. It might be somewhat late for this tournament and that’s unfortunate, but we have a bunch of proven quality players and nothing can take that away.”VVS Laxman had earlier come out in support of Dravid, saying that the side had only fallen back because they had lost out on some close games. “If they had won those, no questions would have been raised about his captaincy,” he had told Cricinfo.

ScorecardRory Burns made his highest List A score [file picture]•PA Photos

Rory Burns hit a career-best List A score of 95 to guide Surrey to a 12-run victory over Gloucestershire at Bristol and ensure top place in the Royal London Cup Group A.Both teams could look forward to home quarter-finals from the moment Yorkshire’s game with Northants was declared a no-result because of rain in mid-afternoon.Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson admitted: “We got lucky with the rain-off in Yorkshire, which got us out of jail and means we shave a home quarter-final, despite losing. In the end we have made a close game of it in spite of not being at our best.”A big crowd at Bristol means a great atmosphere for the lads to play in and I think they have played in enough big games now to handle the pressure of a quarter-final.”But it is Surrey who will enter the last eight on the back of a win after running up 291 for 8, with Burns making his runs off 96 balls, with 5 fours and 2 sixes, while teenager Sam Curran hit 42 and Gary Wilson 37.James Fuller was the pick of the Gloucestershire attack with three for 26 from eight overs. The home side, who had won the toss, made 279 in reply, Benny Howell top-scoring with 60. Jade Dernbach returned 3 for 45 and Tom Curran 4 for 65.Coming in after Jason Roy and Vikram Solanki had fallen cheaply to Fuller, Burns soon assessed the pace of the pitch and played with increasing confidence.The inexperienced Aneesh Kapil, who had replaced Steven Davies in Surrey’s team because of a family illness, helped take to score to 70 before being caught at mid-wicket for a well-made 33.Ben Foakes (30) then put together a stand if 72 in 12.5 overs with Burns before being brilliantly caught and bowled by James Fuller, one handed to his left, with the total on 142 in the 27th over.Burns reached a 59-ball half-century, featuring 3 fours and a six, with Sam Curran offering intelligent support in a partnership of 93 in 15 overs. It was 222 for four with ten overs remaining and Surrey looked set for 300.But Curran fell lbw attempting to reverse sweep a full toss from off-spinner Jack Taylor and Burns departed five short of a deserved century caught on the boundary attempting a straight six off Benny Howell.Wilson supplied some late acceleration with two sixes in an over off Taylor and Surrey’s total looked very competitive on a slow wicket.Gloucestershire reached 41 in reply before Will Tavare was caught behind driving at a wide ball from Tom Curran, who also had Gareth Roderick taken by keeper Wilson, having scored 19.Geraint Jones fell lbw aiming to reverse sweep Gareth Batty and when Chris Dent, having made a bright 49 off 51 balls, cut James Burke straight to Burns at backward point it was 97 for four in the 18th over.Kieran Noema-Barnett drove Batty to mid-off and when Jack Taylor was caught behind off Dernbach it was 137 for 6.Howell and Fuller made a game of it with a stand of 90 in 15.4 overs, but when the latter fell 65 were still needed and Howell soon followed, having struck 6 fours in his 77-ball innings. Tom Smith’s 37 not out at the end was too little too late.

ScorecardRob Key added another hundred to his large collection at the St Lawrence Ground•Getty Images

Rob Key’s first Championship century inside 16 months helped Kent prosper on the opening day of their LV= County Championship clash with Division Two leaders Lancashire in Canterbury.On an overcast day when 26 overs were lost to rain and bad light, Kent’s top-order flourished against a weakened and lethargic Lancashire attack to post 235 for 3 from only 70 overs’ play.Key hit a season’s best 113 and featured in stands worth 72 with Daniel Bell-Drummond and then 149 inside 35 overs with Joe Denly on a day when Lancashire – who began the round needing five points to clinch promotion – clearly expected ball to dominate bat.Without three key members of their pace attack – including the division’s leading wicket-taker in Kyle Jarvis as well as their overseas pro James Faulkner, both with fractured hands – Lancashire elected to field first when play started on time at 10.30am.However, only 28 balls were bowled during a staccato opening session before the players, with Kent on seven without loss, fled for cover from a heavy shower for an early lunch just after noon.Key might have gone for 3, when Alviro Petersen downed a slip catch off Glen Chapple with the home total on 23 without loss, yet Kent’s only casualty of the opening two sessions came after 28.3 overs.With his score on 37 after 103 minutes at the crease Bell-Drummond, walking across his stumps and aiming to leg, was trapped lbw by a Tom Bailey off-cutter to make it 72 for 1.Key scored only four boundaries in his patient 116-ball 50, two of which came with straight drives in successive overs from left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan, as Key and Denly set out their stall to bat time.Denly reached his 79-ball 50 with a sweetly-timed leg-side clip off Chapple for his eighth boundary, while Key reached three figures with an all-run four after straight driving the same bowler. The hundred came off 179 balls and included 11 fours, 10 of them boundaries.It was Key’s first Championship century since May 5 last year when he scored 126 in the win over Surrey. It was also his 24th first-class hundred on the ground for Kent, where he is comfortably the county’s leading run-scorer with almost 8,000 runs to his name.Bad light took the players off for a fourth time shortly before 5pm and Key and Denly both perished soon after the resumptions half an hour later. Denly, playing late to the skiddy pace of Jordan Clark, departed lbw for 65 then Key, after 201 balls, fenced at a Clark lifter and spooned a comfortable catch to gully off the shoulder of the bat in the same over.Lancashire might have finished the day on an even bigger high had Karl Brown held onto a sharp slip chance offered by home skipper Sam Northeast when on 4, but the opportunity, off the bowling of Clark, went to ground allowing Northeast and night watchman James Tredwell to bat out the three remaining overs through to stumps.

Batting allrounder Milinda Siriwardana and 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Mendis have been named in Sri Lanka’s squad for the two-Test series against West Indies.Siriwardana had been expected to make an appearance in the squad, having made an encouraging start to his international career in the limited-overs formats, in addition to top-scoring in the most recent first-class season. Mendis’ selection is something of a surprise, however. He had led Sri Lanka’s Under-19 team in last year’s Youth World Cup, but has only hit one hundred and one fifty in 16 first-class innings so far. Both Mendis and Siriwardana are playing in the ongoing three-day practice match against the West Indians.Mendis’ recent performances in the Moin-ud-Dowlah tournament in India, where he captained the Sri Lanka Development XI, had helped push him into Test contention, chief selector Kapila Wijegunawardana said. Mendis hit 156, 52 and 47 in his three innings in the tournament.”Kusal Mendis has been on our radar for a while,” Wijegunawardana said. “We felt that he earned a spot in the Test squad with the way he has been batting, and the way he batted on the recent tour to India. All the selectors have assessed his skill levels to be quite good and are backing him.”Mendis and Siriwardana displace two more experienced batsmen from the squad. Upul Tharanga has been dropped despite a decent home record in the past two years. Jehan Mubarak has also been replaced, after making the squad for the two recent series against Pakistan and India.The remainder of the squad holds few surprises. Tharindu Kaushal retains his position after having had his doosra banned recently – but he was always expected to remain in the side on the strength of this offbreaks. Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera are the other frontline spin options.Sri Lanka’s top order looks unlikely to undergo drastic change, though each of the top six is likely to be under 30 years of age. Lahiru Thirimanne retains his position in the squad and remains vice-captain although he has only averaged 21.09 in the home Test season. Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva look set to rejoin each other at the top of the order after a brief break from opening together in the last Test against India. Kusal Perera’s impressive Test debut, in which he hit two valuable fifties, will likely see him claim a place in the XI as well.Seamer Suranga Lakmal has regained fitness after missing the series against India due to a side strain, and joins Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep and Dushmantha Chameera in the squad. Shaminda Eranga remains unavailable after picking up his third major injury this year, in his groin. There is no place for left-armer Vishwa Fernando, who was in the squad for the India series.Sri Lanka will have to decide whether Kusal takes the gloves or whether Dinesh Chandimal keeps. In the most recent Test, Chandimal had been sent up the order and relieved of the gloves, while Kusal put in an underwhelming performance behind the stumps.The first Test begins in Galle on October 14, before the teams move to the P Sara Oval for the second encounter.Sri Lanka Test squad Angelo Mathews (capt), Lahiru Thirimanne (vice-capt), Kaushal Silva, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Milinda Siriwardana, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera, Tharindu Kaushal, Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera

ScorecardMedium-pacer Hardik Pandya’s maiden first-class five-for and a four-wicket haul from left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh bundled Railways out for a paltry 166 in Vadodara. In reply, led by opener Kedar Devdhar’s unbeaten 69, the home side reached a promising total of 118 for 1 by close of play.Pandya took four of the first five wickets to fall to leave Railways leaving at 45 for 5 in the 16th over. It took a lower-order rally led by Karn Sharma’s 51 to lift the side from 89 for 7 to 166 all out.In response, Baroda lost opener Hitesh Solanki early but recovered through an 87-run unbeaten partnership for the second wicket between Devdhar and captain Aditya Waghmode.
ScorecardFile photo – Parthiv Patel’s 22nd first-class century lifted Gujarat on an otherwise middling day•K Sivaraman

Parthiv Patel’s 122 was the standout performance for Gujarat on the opening day of their second round match against Andhra, taking them to a position of relative safety after a top-order failure.DP Vijaykumar early strikes reduced Gujarat to 14 for 2 after they were put in to bat. Parthiv, who walked in at No. 4, then guided the innings through a 55-run partnership with Bhargav Merai for the third wicket and a 105-run fourth-wicket stand with Venugopal Rao. He also took on the bulk of scoring in those stands, as no other Gujarat batsman crossed a score of 40 on the opening day. Parthiv was the last Gujarat wicket for the day, falling on 122 off 176 balls with 18 fours. Vijaykumar finished the day with three scalps, while D Sivakumar took 2 for 33.
ScorecardFifties from B Aparajith and R Prasanna anchored Tamil Nadu on the opening day of their match against Madhya Pradesh in Indore, but the home side chipped away at the wickets to ensure they did not concede a significant advantage.MP won the toss and opted to field and Puneet Datey provided them with a breakthrough in the fourth over by bowling opener K Bharath Shankar out. B Aparajith’s 133-ball 56 helped them rebuild from there. But MP struck with the dismissal of Abhinav Mukund and once Aparajith and Dinesh Karthik fell in quick succession, Tamil Nadu found themselves at a shaky 115 for 4. Another rebuilding act, in the form of an 86-run, fifth-wicket partnership between B Indrajith and Prasanna took them past the 200-run mark. Prasanna finished the day unbeaten at 51, after Indrajit became medium-pacer Udit Birla’s second wicket of the day.Mumbai v Punjab report: Pacers, Iyer help Mumbai grab early advantage

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:12

Chappell: Warner has extra, added hunger for runs now

After his performance at the Gabba, it seemed impossible that David Warner could bat any better. But there it took him both innings to reach 200 runs. Here he managed the same feat in one innings. In one day. Another day of utter disheartenment for New Zealand, forced to bowl in hot conditions at the WACA. Another day of complete domination by Australia, who went to stumps at 2 for 416, with the series all but wrapped up.

Warner thought he was lbw

David Warner thought he was gone when he was struck in front by Trent Boult shortly after lunch. New Zealand’s appeal was fevered and prolonged, but umpire S Ravi denied them and forced Brendon McCullum to use his side’s final review.
While Warner fretted, his batting partner in a triple-century stand, Usman Khawaja, revealed he felt all along that the ball would not be striking enough of the stumps.
“He came up to me and I said ‘the umpire’s giving you not out, I reckon that’s just clipping the stumps, I reckon it’ll be umpire’s call’,” Khawaja said. “He was like ‘I dunno’ then he saw the replay and was ‘nah that looks bad’ and I said ‘trust me, WACA’s always bouncing, umpire’s call’ and it came up umpire’s call, so it’s a funny game like that. If the umpire gave him out and he referred it he would have been out. You live and die by the sword.”

That might be presumptuous only one day into the second of three Tests, but as the old cricket cliché goes, you need 20 wickets to win a Test. At this rate, New Zealand will struggle to take 20 in the series. So far in the Tests they have taken 10 for 1230 and Warner, who finished the day unbeaten on 244, has scored 42% of those runs himself. Apart from Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja, the rest of the batsmen have barely been needed.Steven Smith might be in doubt for the Adelaide Test with a chronic case of pad-rash. He moved himself down to No.4 for this series but might as well have shifted to No.11 for all the work that has been left for him. Eventually he did get the chance to walk to the crease late on day one at the WACA, after a tiring Khawaja prodded a catch to cover off Doug Bracewell for 121, and Smith was 5 not out at stumps.It was just the second wicket of a long, long day for New Zealand. Burns had chopped on before lunch when Matt Henry gained a bit of extra bounce. He made 40, but on a day like this it must have felt like a duck. Perhaps only the sweat on the brows of New Zealand’s fast men flowed more freely than Australia’s runs, which came at 4.62 per over. The only maiden of the day was the first over of the morning.Again Trent Boult was the biggest disappointment for New Zealand, struggling to swing the ball, struggling to find the right length, and struggling to go for less than a run a ball. Of the fast men, Bracewell adapted best to the conditions and consistently hit the right lengths, but pressure never built on anyone but the New Zealanders themselves. At times Mark Craig bowled better than at the Gabba, but that said more of how poor he was in Brisbane than of him being threatening in Perth.As the end of the day loomed, Brendon McCullum resorted to bowling himself as he waited for the second new ball to become available. Off a few steps, his slow-mediums were barely even dibbly, let alone dobbly. All it served to do was make it easier for Warner to reach his maiden Test double-hundred. That came with a single off Martin Guptill’s offspin, and capped off a remarkable period for Warner, who has become the fourth fastest Australian to reach 4000 Test runs.As well as being his first 200 in Tests it was his third consecutive century, and his hundred stand with Burns for the first wicket their third in a row since joining forces at the start of the Brisbane Test. The only other Australian opening pair to have achieved that feat was Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden. Warner could yet be eyeing off Hayden’s Australian record score of 380, if Smith doesn’t declare earlier.Warner’s wagon wheel showed few regions that were truly unpopulated, but some areas were heavier on the boundaries. His work through the off side was especially strong, driving through mid-off and cutting anything short and wide – of which there was plenty on a WACA surface offering bounce but not much seam movement. Perhaps most remarkably, by stumps only 100 of his runs had come in boundaries – he had run, and run, and run all day.At the other end, Khawaja picked up where he left off in Brisbane, playing with freedom, confidence and class. That he more or less kept up with Warner’s scoring tempo was an indication of his form; his second Test century came from 132 deliveries with a stylish late cut for four off Henry. Khawaja was especially strong through the third man region, using the pace off the fast men to his advantage.Shortly before tea, Khawaja had top-edged a six to fine leg off Henry; Bracewell couldn’t quite make the catch within the playing area, and spilled over the boundary. It was indicative of New Zealand’s day: near on a few occasions, yet so, so far. Having wasted their first review early in the day, New Zealand lost their second to a much closer call when Warner was on 78 and was given not out when struck in front by Boult. It was a tight “umpire’s call” on the top of the bails.On 38, Khawaja edged Craig behind but was given not out by umpire Nigel Llong. The New Zealanders were keen but had no reviews, and Snicko confirmed Khawaja’s edge. A similar edge had been dropped by BJ Watling earlier in Khawaja’s innings. Also on 38, Khawaja survived an lbw shout from Southee, with the ball seeming to strike bat and pad together.And that was it for New Zealand, the toss and a few half chances going against them. And in the end, they had barely half a chance of saving themselves in this Test and avoiding a 2-0 scoreline before the teams head to Adelaide for the day-night Test. Maybe they’ll have more luck with the pink ball.