Michael Beale sends message to Alex Lowry as Rangers take on Stirling
Michael Beale was full of praise for Rangers attacking midfielder Alex Lowry prior to his debut last night, taking to his personal Twitter account to wish him well.
The 18-year-old came off the bench 15 minutes into the game to replace Ianis Hagi in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup against League Two’s Stirling Albion on Friday (21 January), and he found the back of the net 16 minutes later to open his account.
It was a five-star performance from the Bears academy graduate, and Beale would have been thrilled having predicted big things for him prior to kick-off.
The former Rangers first-team coach, who left for Aston Villa with Steven Gerrard last November, said: “Good luck to young Alex Lowry tonight.
“If he gets off the bench, he will be the 12th academy player to make a debut since June 2018.
“He has the potential to do very well in years to come.”
Huge talent
Rangers supporters are still heartbroken after seeing Nathan Patterson leave Ibrox for Everton earlier this month, but seeing Lowry shine last night would have left them delighted.
He has been impressing for Rangers B in the Lowland League this season, with five goals to his name, and he proved exactly why he has had a lot of buzz surrounding him prior to the game.
Many had tipped him to make his debut and impress in front of the Ibrox crowd, and he did not disappoint.
With Rangers struggling to see recent academy graduates break into their first-team, having Lowry put in that impressive shift last night would have been very pleasing to the club.
He is still a long way from establishing himself in Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s plans, but his huge potential was there for all to see, and he could soon be playing on a regular basis if he keeps impressing.
Should the Light Blues manage to quickly wrap up the title, Lowry and his youth teammates will surely be getting more chances to impress in the dead-rubber games, and hopefully, that gets to happen.
In other Rangers news, the BBC are facing a multi-million-pound defamation action over Gers documentary.