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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Anthony Brown

Rangers 2 Club Brugge 2: A draw in Russell Martin's first game

Rangers fought back to draw 2-2 at home to Club Brugge in Russell Martin’s first pre-season friendly in charge on Sunday.

In front of a crowd of 29,480, the Light Blues struggled early on and were 2-0 down to last season’s Belgian runners-up within 13 minutes. But a superb strike from substitute Mohamed Diomande early in the second half gave them a foothold before Finlay Curtis levelled in the 89th minute.

Recently-appointed manager Martin, who was warmly applauded by the home support when he walked on to the pitch during the warm-up, included only one of Gers’ five summer signings in a starting XI captained by Connor Barron.

On-loan Bournemouth right-back Max Aarons started and played an hour while centre-back Emmanuel Fernandez came on for the last half hour after arriving from Peterborough on a four-year contract earlier this week.

Rangers' other three new recruits Joe Rothwell, Lyall Cameron and Thelo Aasgaard played no part but were introduced to the crowd at half-time.

Strikers Hamza Igamane and Cyriel Dessers, both of whom have been heavily touted to depart amid interest from elsewhere, were not involved either, while key defender John Souttar watched from the sidelines as he recovers from hernia surgery.

Gers, who have been back in pre-season training for a fortnight, kick off their bid to qualify for the Champions League two weeks on Tuesday when they host Panathinaikos in the first leg of their second qualifying round tie.

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