Charlie McCann believes a clear pathway to the Rangers first team was shown by Giovanni van Bronckhorst in Tuesday night's win over Queen of the South.
The Dutchman changed his whole starting XI from the team that defeated Ross County in the Premiership last weekend as they secured safe passage to the last eight of the Premier Sports Cup. Robbie Ure – handed his top team debut – made his mark in front of the Ibrox crowd by netting inside 10 minutes while fellow youngster Adam Devine was handed a starting berth.
Leon King, who has been a main feature of the first-team squads, played in the heart of the Rangers defence with McCann introduced from the bench in the second period for his fifth appearance for the Light Blues. Zak Lovelace, Paul Nsio and Archie Stevens, all 16 years of age, were also handed minutes in the 3-1 triumph with Scott Arfield netting a double after Lee Connelly had levelled the scoring with a stunner when capitalising on a mistake from Fashion Sakala.
McCann said: "For all the B team lads and the (under) 18 lads it just shows them there is a clear pathway to the first team and the boss will give us opportunities. I think that is definitely the message.
"So it is obviously a really positive thing to be a young player at this club at the moment. If we get our opportunities and do well then hopefully we get more and that's definitely what I am striving for anyway.
"It is obviously a positive thing to be able to go out there at Ibrox and get a kick of the ball. It was a good opportunity for the boss to give a run out to people who haven't had the minutes.
"To get the win and get through to the next round is the main objective. We probably made it a little bit tighter than we needed to but we got through and that's all that matters."
Van Bronckhorst was delighted with the performances from his young starlets as he hailed the role the academy is playing at the club. The Dutchman has reiterated his 'love' for working with the next generation of Ibrox stars and wants to continue to give them chances to shine on the big stage.
He said: "It is not easy to come into games like that. They heard [on Monday] they would be involved in the game and I spoke with them about the match and giving them minutes. I think you saw some bright things from Stevens, and Nsio is a strong midfielder, both only 16. Lovelace is a young player as well and big talent, and Ure, of course, started the game.
"We had Leon King and Adam Devine, who are both still very young, so I think the academy is the big part for this club. I just love working with them to inspire them and give them chances to play."
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