Michael Beale has delivered a huge hint that Allan McGregor could be set to call time on his career at the end of the season.
The Rangers veteran look set to hang up his gloves in the summer but decided to pen a one-year extension under Giovanni van Bronckhorst. He started the season as No2 to Jon McLaughlin under the Dutchman before reclaiming his place. New boss Beale has since branded the 40-year-old the 'best keeper' in Scotland and reiterated that he is No1 at Ibrox.
But McLaughlin has been handed game-time recently in league outings at Dundee United and Kilmarnock while the Light Blues boss has also stated his desire to give current No3 Robby McCrorie a run of games to stake his claim. The youngster is desperate to play when he returns from injury with the Scotland jersey also up for grabs with Craig Gordon injured.
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But in a major hint towards next season Beale has stated he will need to decide whether to bring in a new goalkeeper or make a decision over the two behind McGregor in the pecking order to step up next season. He said: “It’s clear that at the end of the season we need to either bring in a goalie or make sure we make a decision on either Jon or Robby to be the No 1. I have to give all the players in-house an opportunity as well.
“But I’m going to change players in this squad over time and I’m going to change the look of Rangers in order to move forward. We are going to re-energise with young players coming in and we’ve got a lot of uncertainty surrounding some of our players.
“At the moment, everyone is pushing in the right direction. I could not be more pleased with the three goalkeepers I have right now.
“Obviously Robby is not currently fit, but he was in the last Scotland squad as third-choice keeper. Craig Gordon has got injured, so Robby is really keen to play. And whenever Jon plays he does well for us.
“Allan played well in the Viaplay Cup semi-final at the weekend and everyone should expect to see him playing at the weekend. After that, we’ll assess it from there.
“I’ve not yet had that conversation but I’m sure Allan is of an age where he’s thinking about coming nearer to the end."
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