Derek McInnes described Lawrence Shankland as a "brilliant" captain who will have a "big influence" at Rangers whether or not he starts games. Shankland was skipper under McInnes at Hearts and followed his manager to Ibrox in the summer where he took up the same role.

However, the Scotland striker has not hit the ground running in Govan and was on the bench for the 5-1 home League Cup win over St Mirren on Sunday, with midfielder Nico Raskin taking the armband.

Ahead of the first leg of the UEFA Conference League play-off tie against Czech side Jablonec at Ibrox on Thursday, McInnes said: "I said that when I spoke to Lawrence. Being captain does not guarantee anything, and he accepted that."

Shankland came off the bench for the second time this season in the second half against Saints but could not add to his solitary Gers goal to date, a penalty against Polish side Jagiellonia in the Europa League qualifier. However, McInnes is relaxed about the situation and said: "When you have a player like Lawrence, who knows his way around the penalty box and how to score goals, I do not worry too much about it."