Ross Wilson confirms 19y/o Rangers starlet has been promoted to first-team squad
Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson has confirmed that young right-back Nathan Patterson has been fully promoted to the first-team squad.
He claimed that having James Tavernier mentor the young-right back was “outstanding” for the 19-year-old.
Wilson also said that Ciaran Dickson, Leon King and Brian Kinnear are also training with the first-team squad on a daily basis.
Wilson was talking in a fan Q&A for The Rangers Youth Development Company.
“I think it’s really important when we talk about Nathan Patterson, what we’ve not got here is he’s not an academy player training with the first-team, he’s a confirmed member of the first-team squad,” Wilson said.
“Me and Steven are very happy with everything he’s doing with the first team. James Tavernier is outstanding for Nathan to learn off every day.
“Over the last few weeks we have Ciaran Dickson and Leon King training with the first team, Brian Kinnear’s joining the training every day too. That’s really positive for us.”
Future is bright
Steven Gerrard and Ross Wilson have built a formidable Rangers squad that looks very capable of delivering the Premiership trophy back to Ibrox this season.
A lot of money has been spent and the wage bill has been increasing steadily.
But that’s only half of the story. Getting players through from the academy is essential for long-term success and Patterson looks like the next big breakthrough star.
The right-back is only 19 but has already made a cameo appearance in the Premiership and a start in the cup game against Stranraer.
In Tavernier, he’s got a right-back to learn off who is at the top of his game.
Tav has proved all the critics wrong after picking up a fair amount of criticism last season.
His numbers for this season are ridiculous – 12 goals and nine assists in just 20 games across all competitions.
The 29-year-old is turning head beyond Rangers at the moment and can teach Patterson right-back craft at both ends of the pitch.
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