18y/o Rangers loanee sparkles on debut and wins MOTM award
Rangers youngster Kai Kennedy’s loan spell at Raith Rovers got off to the dream start on Saturday as he picked up the man of the match award in his side’s surprise 3-2 win over league leaders Hearts.
The 18-year-old playmaker recently signed a new deal at Ibrox to keep him at the club until 2023 after lengthy negotiations had threatened to turn ugly with sporting director Ross Wilson talking of some “questionable advice’ Kennedy had received.
After signing on the dotted line he was immediately sent out on his second loan spell of the season, after spending the first half of the campaign at Inverness Caledonian Thistle, to Championship side Raith Rovers.
And it did not take long for Kennedy to impress with a brilliant display at table-topping Hearts enough to secure him the coveted man of the match award, as revealed by RRFCUpdates on Twitter.
That is some way to mark his debut and helps to push Raith into fourth spot which is the final promotion play-off spot.
He has some work to do to build on this as they look to climb the league further but if his performance at Tynecastle is anything to go by then he will be set for an exciting season in the Championship.
Perfect start
Against a Hearts side that had only lost one Championship game since November 20 this was a brilliant way for Kennedy to make his introduction and feel immediately at home.
His loan spell at Inverness was a successful one but he has joined a team who certainly appear to be more attacking, something that will suit him as he bids to improve on the single goal he has scored this season.
Raith are now the second top scorers in the Championship with 24 goals while only three teams have scored fewer than Thistle’s total of 15.
Kennedy has some work ahead of him to force his way into Steven Gerrard’s first team plans for next season with the likes of established wide men Ryan Kent and Ianis Hagi ahead of him, but these are certainly encouraging signs and picking up the man of the match award on his debut is a great way to get club chiefs to take notice.
He will hope to build on this performance when Raith host the Jambos in the reverse fixture on Tuesday evening.
In other Rangers news, Bournemouth set January price on Gers pre-contract signing.