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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Nathan Ridley

Amad's Rangers debut verdict as Giovanni van Bronckhorst explains why he substituted him

Giovanni van Bronckhorst has revealed that he substituted Amad off on his Rangers debut because he lacked "rhythm", despite the Manchester United loanee getting on the scoresheet.

It took the 19-year-old, who only joined the Scottish champions on Wednesday, just five minutes to score his first goal, having been handed a surprise start by Rangers manager Van Bronckhorst.

Amad finished off Joe Aribo's smart ball across goal to get the Gers' dramatic 3-3 draw away to Ross County off to a flyer.

But the winger left the pitch shortly after the hour mark, appearing to receive treatment from the physio.

"You could see his quality," Van Bronckhorst said post-match. "He made the first goal, he was very good in the space at the back post.

"You can see what he can give to the team. He’s got the talent but we had to take him off because he didn't have the rhythm like other players have.

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Amad scored five minutes into his Rangers debut (PA)

"But overall it was a good performance by him but we are disappointed overall with the draw."

Amad will stay at Ibrox until the end of the season, having found opportunities hard to come by this season following an injury that prevented him from joining Dutch outfit Feyenoord on loan in the summer.

United paid Atalanta £37million for his services last January but interim manager Ralf Rangnick entertained Rangers' approach due competition in the Red Devils' forward line.

"It is fantastic for me at this stage of my career to have the opportunity to come to such a big club that is challenging on a number of fronts and will give me some excellent opportunities to test myself in many environments," the Ivorian told his new club's website upon signing.

"I look forward to training with my teammates for the first-time tomorrow and to meeting the fans for the first time at Ross County on Saturday."

Van Bronckhorst added: "I am really pleased to add Amad to our squad for the rest of the season.

"He is a player who I have been aware of for some time, and when the opportunity to sign him came up, we very keen to make it happen.

"He will add a lot to our squad and provide even more competition for the players in the forward areas."

The Dutchman was less pleased after Saturday's match, slamming his players after conceding a 96th minute equaliser, allowing bitter rivals Celtic to close the gap at the top of the SPL to just two points as they beat Dundee United 1-0 hours later.

"If you go 1-0 up you have to be solid and don't give any chances away and try score a second goal but instead of doing that we made two mistakes and they were 2-1 up," the Gers boss stated.

"The reaction we had in the second half was really good but in the end we gift two points away when we should have had three points."

Van Bronckhorst will be hoping to have Amad available when Rangers travel to face their Glaswegian foes in what could be a title decider at Celtic Park on Wednesday.

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