Former Rangers youth coach Ricky Waddell says hot-shot Alex Lowry has a long way to go before making the step-up to the first team, but took his chance last night.
The Uddingston 18-year-old made his debut as he climbed off the bench as an early sub for Ianis Hagi, and scored the opening goal in a 4-0 win over League Two side Stirling Albion.
Waddell was working part-time as a coach in the Rangers Academy, but left for Braves [then Edusport] in 2019. While at Ibrox, he oversaw young talent including Nathan Patterson and Billy Gilmour - both of whom are now playing in the English Premier League - and only had midfielder Lowry for a couple of sessions.
He's delighted to see the young talent coming through, but says he has a bit of work to do, having seen him at close quarters playing for Rangers 'B' in the Lowland League.
Lowry scored twice in a recent 2-2 draw with Braves, and Waddell said: "Alex was around when I was at Rangers, but I took boys who were a few years older than him, the 2000s and 2001s, so Patterson and Gilmour, and I was lucky enough to manage those guys.
"Alex was a good young player, I remember taking him for a few sessions when I was working in the Academy, although I wasn't his head coach.
"He has bags of ability, bags of talent, but he needs to probably add that work-ethic to his game.
"He scored two goals against us, though I felt they were a bit fortunate to get their penalty, but he still had to go and stick it away, he did that, and he showed a bit of quality in that game.
"He's came on [against Stirling Albion] and done really well, and it's great to see young Scottish talent in general getting into first teams and progressing. That can only be good for their club and for the Scottish game as well.
"Fair play to him, hopefully he catches on and keeps playing in the first team."
Waddell says Lowry has done well, but needs to make sure he's ready for any other chance boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst is willing to give him.
He said: "He was playing in a game last night where Rangers were dominating possession of the ball and he's going to have a lot of opportunities to show his skill, but that's the first step on a long road for him, as a young player.
"I've got no idea if he will get a chance to step up, but when a player does get a chance in their first team, the number one thing they've got to do is take that opportunity, impress the manager.
"He's certainly got a long way to go, but I think he's done what he had to do last night by scoring a goal and contributing to a Rangers win.
"He needs to now try and keep himself involved in the first team as much as he can, and any time he gets an opportunity he needs to go and take that."
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