Rangers fight back in face of sickness bug as pre-season ends in German draw

James Tavernier was among the goalscorers for Rangers in Hoffenheim.

Rangers finished off their 2023/24 pre-season campaign with a 2-2 draw away at German outfit Hoffenheim.

The Bundesliga club raced into a 2-0 lead in the first half, Pavel Kaderabek opening the scoring on 23 minutes before Ihlas Bebou added a second just before the break. However, Rangers responded, with James Tavernier converting a 57th-minute penalty kick and then Sam Lammers netting the equaliser six minutes later.

Rangers’ preparations for the match were hampered by illness, with manager Michael Beale revealinf that some of his squad, including centre-half John Souttar, were unable to take part due to a sickness bug sweeping through the camp. "The last man standing in centre-back really with [Leon] Balogun and young Johnly [Yfeko] who has had a really good pre-season – this will be a good test for him today,” Beale said pre-match. “Unfortunately, we had a little bit of a sickness bug which has robbed us of three or four players and we had to make the choice whether they travelled with the group or stayed back. So, three or four have stayed back."

New striker Danilo, whose move to Rangers from Feyenoord was only confirmed on Friday, appeared on 59 minutes for fellow summer signing Cyriel Dessers, while there were also run-outs for arrivals Jack Butland, Balogun, Lammers, Abdallah Sima, Kieran Dowell and Dujon Sterling. The notable absentees included Souttar, Ben Davies, Connor Goldson, Glen Kamara and Fashion Sakala.

Rangers are next in action on Saturday, August 5 when they begin their cinch Premiership campaign against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.