Is it win or bust for van Bronckhorst? Derek Clark answers three burning Rangers questions

They head into the clash under fire after a humiliating 7-1 defeat at the hands of Liverpool in the Champions League.

While Rangers' first-half performance was excellent, the second was a total calamity with six goals conceded, and four lost in the last 15 minutes.

It has left fans raging at the fall in standards from last season when the team were Europa League finalists, only losing out on immortality after Aaron Ramsey's single fluffed penalty.

Here are the big three talking points facing the Light Blues ahead of the game.

Is it win or bust for van Bronckhorst?

There is no doubt Wednesday’s heavy defeat has seen trust in the manager dwindle for many who are furious at some of the results this season. He has presided over a series of heavy defeats and the abysmal second-half showing against Liverpool has resulted in calls for a change from a growing number of supporters. He simply needs to keep winning domestically to ease that pressure. It’s quite clear Rangers are out of their depth in the Champions League, that was always going to be the case to some extent, but van Bronckhorst could point to the fact he did guide the club there for the first time in a decade past two more than decent sides. His defenders will also point to a two-point gap in the league and rightly point out his men are far from out of the title race. That aside, it's imperative he win over supporters who are struggling to see a positive way forward. He has tended to get a reaction following midweek European matches and he certainly needs one tomorrow or the pressure he feeling at the moment is going to ramp up to fever pitch.

Who starts in defence?

The loss of Connor Goldson was evidently felt when he limped off on Wednesday night. He has been the glue that has held the Rangers defence together for the majority of his time at the club and he is going to be a massive miss, of that there is no doubt. To add insult to injury, just when we thought Ben Davies was over his injury troubles, he’s likely out after suffering a strain following the match against his former club Liverpool. That leaves Rangers with just one fit out-and-out centre half in Leon King. It’s a depressing and worrying state of affairs and has led many to suggest a move for a free agent as cover. With John Souttar and Filip Helander also out long term, the onus will likely be on James Sands to partner 18-year-old King at the heart of the defence. It may also force van Bronckhorst into a change in shape with John Lundstram possibly dropping back to form a back three to add a bit more stability. Time will tell how he approaches the game, but Rangers can't afford to protect the young duo too much, they need goals to win the game and ensure they keep pace with their bitter rivals for what is really, the only show in town - the Premiership title.

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Does Ryan Kent deserve to start?

In a word, no. The winger has been out of sorts for some time now and looks like a shadow of the player we all know he can be. Van Bronckhorst alluded to this recently when he was asked about Kent prior to last week’s win over St Mirren. “Ryan has to bring more,” he said.“He’s an exceptional player with a lot of qualities. The performance he had against Hearts last weekend was a really good one with a lot of threat going forward. I think his qualities haven’t been there every game, he just needs to be consistent and get into the best positions on the pitch to be dangerous, to either have an assist or score from a chance he creates himself.” The manager is right when talking about his display at Tynecastle having assisted Colak for the opener and netted the fourth but, in the main, performances like that are few and far between. Kent has all the talent in the world, only Jota comes close in Scottish football and he should be dominating the creative rankings at this stage of his career. Instead, too often we have heard the same sad refrain about knowing he needs to add numbers to his game. Rabbi Matondo started against the Buddies at Ibrox in place of Kent and despite not setting the heather alight, the speedy Welshman may well have done enough to continue on the left hand side.