Madjid Bougherra dropped out of the Rangers side with flu for the Old Firm derby against Celtic at Ibrox.
The stopper’s probable replacement, Lee McCulloch, also fell victim to the flu leaving Sasa Papac to move in alongside David Weir.
Ibrox manager Walter Smith made four changes in total with Kris Boyd, Andrew Little, Kenny Miller and Steven Smith coming in with Kevin Thomson dropping out with a knee injury and Jerome Rothen starting on the bench.
Celtic manager Tony Mowbray made three changes to his side as he gave a surprise debut to China captain Zheng Zhi and the first start of the season to left-back Lee Naylor.
Glenn Loovens returned to partner Stephen McManus with Gary Caldwell and Georgios Samaras starting on the bench as Danny Fox dropped out injured.
Rangers: McGregor, Little, Weir, Papac, Smith, Whittaker, Davis, Mendes, Naismith, Boyd, Miller. Subs: Alexander, Novo, Rothen, Lafferty, Fleck, Loy, Wilson.
Celtic: Boruc, Wilson, Loovens, McManus, Naylor, McGeady, Brown, N’Guemo, Maloney, Zhi, McDonald. Subs: Zaluska, Caldwell, Samaras, Crosas, McCourt, Forrest, Caddis.
Referee: C Thomson (Scotland)