Michael Stewart delivers verdict on Patterson appearance for Rangers v Antwerp

Steven Gerrard nailed his decision to play Nathan Patterson in Rangers' Europa League win against Antwerp on Thursday, according to Michael Stewart.

Patterson, 19, was one of the five Gers players who broke COVID protocol earlier this month but he, along with Bongani Zungu and Calvin Bassey, was named on the bench at Ibrox for the second leg of the Europa League round of 32 clash with Antwerp.

After a poor first-half by stand-in right-back Leon Balogun, Patterson came off the bench at half-time and scored 17 seconds later after a superb pass by Alfredo Morelos.

Rangers went on to win the match 5-2 and 9-5 on aggregate to set up a last-16 showdown with Leicester City's conquerers Slavia Prague.

Good management or dangerous precedent?

Seven Rangers players have broken COVID protocol this season.

Jordan Jones and George Edmundson have both already recieved fines and bans and were sent out on loan to Sunderland and Derby respectively in the January window.

It remains to be seen to the recent five rulebreakers, including Patterson, but it's likely they'll be hit with similar punishments in terms of bans and fines.

But what doesn't quite add up is Gerrard's decision to use them on Thursday night.

Firstly, with Patterson, we can understand it in a way because Tavernier's injury means there's no natural right-back in the first-team squad other than the youngster.

However, we cannot fathom as to why Zungu was substituted on for the latter stages of the match when it was already won.

Why was that?

If you were Jones or Edmundson, how would you be feeling? You'd be raging with Gerrard, surely.

How can those three be played almost instantly while they were left to rot and then sent out on loan?