Rangers v Hamilton preview: Rob Kiernan still suspended for Ibrox clash
Friday 17 March 2017 13:25, UK
Pedro Caixinha will be without the suspended Rob Kiernan when he takes charge of Rangers for the first time against Hamilton at Ibrox.
Defender Kiernan serves the final part of his two-match ban for his straight red card against St Johnstone, having also missed the 1-1 draw with Celtic last weekend.
However, Joe Garner returns from suspension and is available for the Portuguese, who watched the derby stalemate from the stands at Parkhead, but midfielders Jordan Rossiter (calf) and Niko Kranjcar (knee) remain on the sidelines.
Caixinha is delighted with the way Rangers' players have responded to him and his staff after their first few days of training and insists he wants to see the team be more dynamic, starting against Hamilton.
"It's been fantastic and it's what I love to do. I love being on the park and planning the training sessions and having that interaction with the players," he said. "I am very, very happy and very enthusiastic. I believe we are receiving the same back from the players, so it's so far, so good.
"We are going step by step and we talk about being offensive in two moments, and being aggressive in those two moments. I am talking about the offensive organisation, so I want a team that needs to be more dynamic. I want to have the ball and, of course, to attack you need to have the ball. I need to have a team that builds up and attacks the spaces more rather than just touch the ball.
"I also want a team that is much more aggressive arriving at the finishing position. After that, I want a team that is always attacking, so when we have the ball, we attack the opponents' goal. When we don't have the ball, we attack the ball again, so that's the relationship between those two moments that I want, and I want the team to become aggressive.
"Of course, we also talk about the defensive organisation, but that has been the main content of these four days because of what we have analysed on our next opponent. This is going to be the majority of the game, so we need to be prepared for this."
Hamilton midfielder Darian MacKinnon returns from suspension for his side's visit to Ibrox but skipper Michael Devlin is a major doubt with a calf strain.
Forward Alex D'Acol is on his way back from an ankle injury with defender Dan Seaborne returning after missing the last match due to family issues.
Defender Blair Adams remains out after suffering a bout of concussion as does Jesus Garcia Tena (knee), Darren Lyon (hip) and Louis Longridge (broken foot).
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