Rangers manager Michael Beale is raring to go on his competitive managerial debut at Rangers.

"The players are lucky men to play in a stadium like this and for a club like this," he tells BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound. "I'm pleased the talking is over and the football can take place. I want us to play with real energy and run forward and hit crosses, dribble and get at people. That's what this crowd demands. That's up to the players on the pitch.

"We've picked a front-foot team this evening.

"We've got a lot of injuries. That needs to improve. No club can have the amount of players we've got out, key players. I need to sort out the general well-being of the group. I think the group maybe just needed a different face, a smiley face or someone they knew.

"When I look across the city, we are chasing a good team and it's important we show that we are a good team in the coming weeks."

Keep up to date with Rangers news with BBC Sport here.

John Collins
Former Hibs manager on BBC Sportsound

Another wee subplot to tonight is newspaper reports suggesting Ryan Porteous is a target for Rangers, although other outlets have cast doubt on that being a possibility.

At times a controversial figure on and off the field, the 23-year-old centre-half earned plaudits after making his recent Scotland debut.

With Porteous' contract ending in the summer, this is the kind of game where he will be especially keen to impress the host of English Championship clubs said to be eyeing his services.

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Tom English
BBC Scotland's chief sports writer

Hibs arrive with plenty of problems of their own.

Even before the news that talisman Martin Boyle will miss the rest of the season after missing out on Australia's World Cup campaign through injury, they went into the World Cup break with one win sandwiched in the middle of a run of six defeats.

Lee Johnson's side have now lost four in a row away from home and slipped to eighth place.

Chasing a European place or battling relegation? It is a season that can still go either way for the Edinburgh side.

Jack Ross
Former Hibs manager on Sky Sports

Kris Boyd
Former Rangers striker on Sky Sports

Don't forget you can see highlights of tonight's game on the BBC Scotland channel from 23:00.

Image source, BBC Sport

Michael Beale has been welcomed back by many Rangers fans like the prodigal son, while others regard his appointment as the unimaginative, easy option.

On one hand, he was seen by many as the training-ground and tactical brains behind Gerrard's title-winning season at Ibrox - and is lauded by many former players and fellow coaches.

On the other, he has only 22 matches with QPR as evidence of his managerial prowess. He had an instant impact at Loftus Road, with the London side top of the Championship by 22 October, but they had dropped to seventh after five games without a win, four of them defeats, by the time he headed back to Glasgow.

Image source, PA Media

Scotland striker Kevin Nisbet, making his first appearance since February, and midfielder Kyle Magennis return from injury as Hibs manager Lee Johnson makes four changes from the team that lost 1-0 away to Kilmarnock on 12 November.

Forward Elie Youan and centre-half Rocky Bushiri also return to the starting XI as Nohan Kenneh, Lewis Stevenson, Elias Melkersen and Mykola Kukharevych drop out, all but the latter to the subs' bench.

Veteran winger Aiden McGeady is among the subs for the first time since being injured in the League Cup in July, while striker Harry McKirdy is also on the bench after injury.

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Avoiding the Christmas came early cliche, let's just say Rangers got the Ibrox feelgood factor rolling this evening with the announcement of new contracts for Romania midfielder Ianis Hagi and centre-half Leon King.

The 24-year-old Hagi, who has signed "a contract extension", has been sidelined since damaging his anterior cruciate ligament in a Scottish Cup match against Stirling Albion in January.

King, who has "agreed a new, long-term deal", has become a regular starter as just 18 after injuries to fellow central defenders.

Rangers don't go into any detail about contract lengths.

The task facing Beale when he became Rangers manager on 28 November was in stark contrast to the one he and Steven Gerrard left behind on 11 November 2021.

Then, Rangers were on an eight-game unbeaten run, hadn't lost in nine at home domestically and were above city rivals Celtic in the Premiership. Now, they are nine points behind after only two wins in seven.

But the warning signs had perhaps already been there before Giovanni van Bronckhorst's appointment as points dropped at Ibrox against Motherwell, Heart of Midlothian and Aberdeen meant they were only four clear of a side who had emerged from an erratic start to Ange Postecoglou's reign to be on an eight-game unbeaten league run that would remain intact for the rest of the season.

It seems like yesterday since Michael Beale left Ibrox for Aston Villa along with Steven Gerrard.

But much has happened in that 13 months.

Beale parted with Gerrard to become his own man at Queens Park Rangers and, just five months later and with his former boss losing his job at Villa Park, he is back at the Ibrox club after they jettisoned their successor, Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

The 42-year-old Londoner will be hoping for more longevity this time.

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Antonio Colak is a surprise absentee for Rangers.

Michael Beale had teased about the possibility of playing two up front, but the Croat's place is taken by Alfredo Morelos rather than partnering him.

A first league start of the season for 19-year-old Adam Devine is not a big surprise considering Borna Barisic will not return from World Cup duty with Croatia until next week, while fellow Ridvan Yilmaz is among those still missing through injury.

Ben Davies returns from injury but only makes the bench, while there there is no sign yet of fellow centre-half Connor Goldson.

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Image source, BBC Sport

Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, Sands, Lundstram, Devine, Kamara, Jack, Tillman, Kent, Sakala, Morelos.

Substitutes: McLaughlin, Davis, Matondo, Wright, Davies, McCann, Arfield, Fraser, Lowry.

Hibernian: Marshall, Cabraja, Hanlon, Porteous, Magennis, Newell, Cadden, Nisbet, Youan, Campbell, Rocky.

Substitutes: Schofield, Kenneh, Stevenson, Henderson, Mitchell, Melkersen, McKirdy, Fish, McGeady.

Image source, BBC Sport

Sportsound's build-up to tonight's live commentary from Ibrox has just begun on BBC Radio Scotland MW - alternatively you can listen by simply clicking the wee window at the top of this page.

Two former Scotland midfielders - Neil McCann, ex of Rangers, and John Collins, once of Hibs - join host Kenny Macintyre.

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New Rangers manager Michael Beale says silverware by the end of the season will be success in his eyes.

Hibs counterpart Lee Johnson is looking for a fresh start after their poor form.

Both spring surprises in their starting XIs...stay with us for more details.

It's back! The World Cup hasn't even finished and the Scottish Premiership comes out of its World Cup winter break cold storage.

And, despite the nation being gripped in a big freeze, Rangers and Hibernian kick it all off two days before the other 10 teams - work that one out!

There's plenty of buzz around the game to warm your winter cockles, though, with Michael Beale making his competitive debut after returning to Ibrox as manager.

Stay with us for the build-up, live commentary and post-match reaction on BBC Radio Scotland and online.

Image source, SNS