Malik Tillman can fill Rangers Joe Aribo void as Gio van Bronckhorst hails Bayern Munich man's strength

The talk among the thousands of fans who had ventured south was as much about two stars not involved as the 22 Rangers players who did feature in the 2-1 win over Blackpool.

Calvin Bassey sat out the sunshine friendly as his club record move to Ajax entered the final stages and Malik Tillman watched from the stands after completing his loan switch from Bayern Munich 24 hours earlier. But for Gio Van Bronckhorst the focus was very much on the park and his evolving side with under a fortnight to go until the season kicks off for real.

And for the boss there were signs by the seaside that the ripple effect from the recent transfer activity that has seen Joe Aribo's exit soon to be followed by Bassey. With Tillman, Antonio Colak, Tom Lawrence and Rabbi Matondo all coming in the way, it will be as calm as the Irish Sea lapping up on the sun-drenched Blackpool waterfront.

The Ibrox boss gave four summer signings a run out sprinkled in among the old guard and a handful of academy stars ready to stake their claim. Among them was Charlie McCann who netted an impressive half volley to settle the outcome after Borna Barisic had opened the scoring.

Frontman Colak looked powerful and energetic leading the line for 78 minutes and was deprived a first goal in light blue by an offside flag.

Matondo showed his lightening pace and ball control in a 30-minute cameo alongside Lawrence and John Souttar who too was denied a debut goal by an instinctive Daniel Grimshaw save.

What Tillman can bring to the table will likely be seen in the double header Ibrox friendlies against West Ham and Tottenham this week.

But Van Bronckhorst is confident he has signed a ready-made replacement for Aribo in the Bayern loanee.

He said: “We lost Joe and we