Rangers starting XI vs Hearts: 4 changes as Clement drops Connor Goldson and freshens up attack

Rangers boss Philippe Clement has named his starting XI and substitutes to face Hearts for today’s mouthwatering Scottish Cup semi-final encounter against Hearts at Hampden Park.

The Belgian boss has made FOUR changes to his line-up from the side that slipped up during a 0-0 draw with Dundee in their latest Premiership match on Wednesday night. Leon Balogun slots into centre-back with Connor Goldson is dropped to the bench. Mohamed Diomande has recovered from an operation of his thumb to start over Tom Lawrence, while there are two changes in attack - Rabbi Matondo and Cyriel Dessers replacing Fabio Silva and Kemar Roofe.

Ridvan Yilmaz has failed to prove his fitness and is left out of the matchday squad along with Hampden specialist Scott Wright.

What has Philippe Clement said?

“I don’t counter anything. We will play our own game, we don’t need to counter another team. We are going to play our own game and believe in ourselves and show our qualities.

“To win we need a better performance than we had on Wednesday (in the 0-0 draw at Dundee), for sure. We need to do the right things against Hearts who have played a very good season.

“It’s a very interesting test for the players and I know they are all hungry to go to the final. They’ve had the experience of going to a final and winning it (the Viaplay Cup) and some of them have won several already so the mood is big.”

Here's your confirmed starting line ups ahead of this afternoon’s semi-final showdown at the national stadium...

Rangers starting XI (4-2-3-1):

Jack Butland, James Tavernier (C), John Souttar, Leon Balogun, Dujon Sterling, John Lundstram, Mohamed Diomande, Todd Cantwell, Rabbi Matondo, Abdallah Sima, Cyriel Dessers.

SUBS: Robby McCrorie (GK), Connor Goldson, Fabio Silva, Tom Lawrence Kieran Dowell, Kemar Roofe, Borna Barisic, Nicolas Raskin, Ross McCausland.

Hearts starting XI (4-2-3-1):

Craig Gordon, Frankie Kent, Stephen Kingsley, Beni Baningime, Jorge Grant, Lawrence Shankland (C), Nathaniel Atkinson, Cammy Devlin, Kye Rowles, Alan Forrest, Kenneth Vargas.

SUBS: Zander Clark (GK), Yutaro Oda, Barrie McKay, Alex Cochrane, Aidan Denholm, Macaulay Tait, Scott Fraser, Kyosuke Tagawa, Dexter Lembikisa.