Adam Devine is desperate to see Ryan Kent remain at Rangers and continue his learning curve up against him on a daily basis.
The Light Blues star - signed from Liverpool for £7million - is a key player at Ibrox but has entered the final six months of his contract. No agreement has been reached on an extended stay with Michael Beale's side to date, with the attacker free to talk to other interested parties over a pre-contract.
Youngster Devine, who recently experienced three Premiership games back to back, admits the 26-year-old is the hardest opponent he has ever come up against in training as he also gave an insight into the daily on-goings and demands set from the new management on the Rangers training field as they bid to keep in touch with Celtic in the title race. He said: “I want Ryan to stay, 100 per cent. He is a great player. He’s difficult to play against in training to be fair.
READ MORE: Rangers new PR chief named as former MSP Alasdair Morrison lands key Ibrox job
“Coming up against him every day will improve me. He’s the hardest player I have ever had to train against. You go into any game thinking if you can play against him you can play against anyone.
“He has shown what he can do and hopefully he stays on. Everyone has helped me. I couldn’t single out one of them. All of them are brilliant with me.
“They help me through training, through games, off the pitch. They are all good role models for me to have around me.”
On Beale and his work on the training ground, Devine added: "He is very demanding in training. It is competitive every day in training. You need to win and that sets you up for the games on the Saturday. Everybody is driving standards. Everybody wants to be the best in training.
"It is setting a real mood around the group, every day we go into training there has to be a real intensity to the training session. It is only beneficial being so competitive in training.
"In a club like Rangers you need to win every week and at the end of the day to succeed is to win trophies and that's what we hope to do.
"In the last five games we have looked a threat, scored a lot of goals. There is a lot of room for improvement but I think we are heading in the right direction."
One player who has become a real inspiration and role model for young Devine is former Rangers starlet Nathan Patterson.
He has firmly established himself as Steve Clarke's No1 right-back in the Scotland national team while he is also making waves in the English Premier League with Everton this season after a tough beginning to life south of the border.
Patterson is only a couple of years older than Devine - something he looks at to give himself that little bit of extra grit and determination as he bids to break into the first-team set-up at Rangers on a regular basis.
Speaking about the Everton star, he said: “One hundred per cent I look at Nathan for inspiration. He was only a few years older than me. It gives me a bit of drive that he was playing in the team at my age. He went into the team and stuck for a while. He was a great player and he played well when he was here.
“I spoke to him quite regularly. When I went up to the first team’s training he would help me through the sessions. He was a good role model.”
Adam Devine helped launch the new 2022/23 SPFL Match Attax Collection, on sale now in Scottish retailers and via Topps.com
READ NEXT:
- John Souttar 'really rated' by Rangers boss Michael Beale and has 'no point to prove'
- Rangers tipped to be 'keeping an eye' on Hearts' Lawrence Shankland as Ibrox hero lauds hitman
- Rangers new PR chief named as former MSP Alasdair Morrison lands key Ibrox job
- Fashion Sakala's Rangers penalty glee caught in clip as unique angle vs Celtic shows smiling star
