Rangers vs Middlesbrough LIVE score and goal updates from Ibrox friendly ahead of Champions League crunch
With a sizeable travelling support expected to make the trip north for this pre-season friendly hoping to make their own noise, Rob Edwards' team will provide useful opposition as they step up their prep ahead of the start of the EFL Championship campaign.
For Russell Martin, this represents a chance to get some minutes in the legs of some of his squad, while also allowing others to compete for a spot in Wednesday night's team in the Greek capital.
There will be no Rangers reunion this afternoon with former centre-half George Edmundson after 'the Fridge' was ruled out with a calf injury, as he and Boro star man Finn Azaz face a race against time to be fit for the Championship curtain raiser in a few weeks' time.
It's a last chance for Martin to get a look at his team ahead of the all-important Euro tie on Wednesday.
You can follow all the action with us LIVE right here.
12:08Andy MacKay
Strachan's Scots' Guards
Gordon Strachan arrived at the Riverside in October 2009 after leaving Celtic that summer and the former Parkhead boss leant heavily on his old club for recruits, with the likes of Stephen McManus, Scott McDonald, Willo Flood and Barry Robson all arriving during his ill-fated 12-month spell in the dugout.
But the Teesside Tartan imports didn't stop there, as Strachan also brought in three players with Rangers connections as he prepared his side for an assault on the Championship. Andy Halliday was brought in from Livingston and would go on to play for his boyhood heroes later in his career, while Kris Boyd left Ibrox on a Bosman for Boro and Kevin Thomson arrived in a switch worth a reported £2m.
The Scottish revolution would not work out well for Strachan, as he left the Riverside in October of that year, departing having chosen to end his contract without compensation, a move that saw Boro Chairman Steve Gibson praise the former Scotland boss as 'a man of great integrity'.
12:04Andy MacKay
No Rangers reunion for Edmundson
Middlesbrough have made the trip north to Glasgow for this afternoon's pre-season run out, but there will be no Rangers reunion for Boro defender George Edmundson, who along with star man Finn Azaz face a race against time to be fit for the start of the EFL Championship season.
Edmundson joined Rangers under Steven Gerrard in 2019 and contributed some stellar showings in his first season, most notably on Europa League duty where 'the Fridge' - as he came to be affectionately known - put on a player of the match performance in Portugal as Ryan Kent's lightning-quick counter attack secured a 1-0 (and 4-2 agg.) victory over Ruben Amorim's Braga side. He would then go on to bag his side's goal in a 3-1 loss to a Kai Havertz-inspired Bayer Leverkusen in the next round.
Things wouldn't go quite to plan the following season as Edmundson was suspended by the club along with Jordan Jones - another player to play for both sides - after the pair attended a party that broke the then-regulations during the Covid pandemic. His Rangers career failed to recover after that, initially joining Derby on loan the following January before a permanent switch to Ipswich followed in the summer of 2021 as Rangers celebrated their 55th league title win.
12:03Andy MacKay
Cavenagh spying mission key to Rangers takeover
It's been revealed that Andrew Cavenagh was convinced to pull the trigger on the Rangers takeover this summer after an impromptu spying mission in amongst punters in the Copeland Road stand during a match taken in by the American healthcare tycoon.
11:56Andy MacKay
Rak-Sakyi injury fears
Rangers have been in the market for an exciting attacking option all summer but could be left facing a sweat over a major target liked by manager Russell Martin and the recruitment team as Jesurun Rak-Sakyi was forced off playing for Crystal Palace in pre-season.
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