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 Gers 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 30 minutes 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.

Martin refuses to be drawn on Vardy links

Martin refused to be drawn on reports linking Rangers with a move for former England and Leicester striker Jamie Vardy.

The 38-year-old forward, who saw a move to Genoa fall through, has now been heavily touted for a switch to Ibrox after leaving the Foxes at the end of last season.

Martin remained coy but refused to dismiss the prospect when asked if Vardy was a target this summer.

“I think I’ve been asked about so many players,” he said. “Some miles away, some on the money. So basically, I’m not going to give you an answer on that.

“But I guess you’ll find out who’s real and who’s not in the next few weeks.”