Darren Jackson tips Gerrard to eventually hand rarely-seen Rangers teen more chances
Darren Jackson has tipped Steven Gerrard to hand Nathan Patterson a bigger role in the Rangers first-team as the season progresses.
Patterson, 19, has only made four senior appearances for the Light Blues with two of them coming this season when he came off the bench against Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership and earned 48 minutes as a substitute in the Europa League win over Lincoln Red Imps.
The young right-back has been on the bench for all three of Rangers’ Europa League group stage matches this season but won’t be in the squad against Benfica on Thursday night due to being in close contact with a Scotland Under-21 international who tested positive for COVID-19 [GlasgowLive].
James Tavernier has been the star of the season for Rangers at right-back this season so there’s hardly any chance of Gerrard dropping his first-team captain any time soon.
But ex-Hibernian and Celtic forward Jackson claims that Tavernier will be due a rest at some point and when that happens, he can see Patterson getting a chance to shine.
“If they keep on winning, maybe further down the line, [Gerrard] can maybe leave a Tavernier out and give him a rest and play Nathan Patterson or something like that,” Jackson said on PLZ Soccer’s Football Show.
We’d like to see more of up-and-coming youngsters like Patterson but, of course, we don’t want to see Gerrard leaving Tavernier out of important matches because the right-back has been so vital for the Gers this season.
Patterson has impressed in his four appearances for the Gers to date with stats by WyScout showing that he completed 90 per cent of his passes in his appearance versus Lincoln Red Imps while also making two interceptions and four recoveries and completing both of his crosses into the box.
Obviously, Lincoln Red Imps are nowhere near the same level as clubs in the Scottish Premiership so we’re not suggesting that because Patterson played well against them that he can perform above and beyond in Scotland.
But he is a young player who needs game-time.
He’s shown what he’s capable of and he’s definitely worth of playing more often but there’s just no way Tavernier can be left out of any matches right now.
In other Rangers news, fans are delighted by this contract update on a Gers star.