Three Rangers stars to take centre stage

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Three Rangers stars to take centre stage
DUBLIN, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 15: Jordan Jones of Northern Ireland reacts after missing a glorious chance to score during the International friendly football game between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland at Aviva Stadium on November 15, 2018 in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

With this being an international break and our focus being on Rangers, the most interesting match is in fact Romania v Northern Ireland.

Four men with Rangers connections, past and present, will play in this one, and we’ll be very interested to see how our Ulster brothers do against our resident Romanian star.

It is predicted Hagi will start in his proper 10 position in a three-man berth behind Romania hitman Puscas, while Ian Barraclough’s maiden NI XI should see the reliable Steven Davis in midfield as always while ex-Ranger Kyle Lafferty leads the attack with Jordan Jones on the left flank.

It’s the progress of Jordan Jones and Ianis Hagi we’re most interested in.

Jones, of course, is the forgotten man at Ibrox. He did get a place on the bench v Hamilton, but Steven Gerrard has had no interest in him from the off – if he has another fine match for his country then his continued exclusion starts to look a bit silly.

Meanwhile Hagi has had a slightly off-kilter start to this season and a bright match for his country could get his fires going and further enhance his case to play in the middle of the three rather than being shoved out wide right.

There is some speculation that Nicolae Stanciu will be the main 10 in this Romanian XI, but historically the Slavia Prague man’s position in the NT has varied between the wings, the 10, CM, and even DM. So we’ll see who gets that slot, or if indeed he and Hagi swap.

But either way, it’s one we’re looking forward to, as three Rangers men once again appear on the international stage.

Just as long as they’re not Scottish, eh?

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  1. I hope all three do well. Jones in particular I rate him much higher than SG does . He’s a far superior all round player than the ineffective Barker.

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