Philippe Clement insisted ‘everybody can be replaced’ after subbing captain James Tavernier during the Europa League defeat to Lyon on Thursday night.

The Belgian saw his side crash to a 4-1 defeat in their second outing of the campaign as Rangers were well-beaten at Ibrox. Alexandre Lacazette and Malick Fofana both netted twice as a Tom Lawrence strike that pulled Rangers level proved to be a mere consolation.

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Clement stuck with Tavernier from the start as Dujon Sterling, who this week signed a new long-term contract at the club, and Neraysho Kasanwirjo were overlooked for a start. Sterling was introduced on the wide right in the second half just minutes after Kasanwirjo took over from the skipper at full-back.

“Yeah, that everybody can be replaced,” Clement said when asked about the decision to take off Tavernier. “And Tav played already a lot of games, so not much to say about that. And Nana showed also last couple of weeks that he can be a really good replacement, and he's defensively very solid, so those are normal things.

"Like on the other side, players were changed, that is top football, and we're going to play more than 60 games this season, so it's impossible to play all these games. So in every good team in the world, our players change and sometimes start on the bench. It's normal, whoever it is.”