Rangers academy coach Graeme Murty has issued a challenge to the club’s young stars ahead of Sunday’s massive Challenge Cup semi-final against Inverness.
The Gers U19s were beaten 4-0 by Atletico Madrid on Wednesday to signal the end of their UEFA Youth League campaign, but the vast majority of the squad will be in action once again for the Colts this weekend.
They face a trip to Inverness to take on Caley Thistle in the last four, with a place in the high-profile final at stake.
The young Gers have beaten Berwick Rangers, Stranraer, Ballymena United, Solihull Moors and Wrexham to get to this stage, proving they can hold their own against senior opposition.
Speaking at Firhill after Wednesday’s chastening defeat, Murty urged his players to have belief in their qualities and to deliver in the Highlands.
“You’re going to have to recover now, you’re a little bit low,” he said. “You have to pick yourself up and be ready for a completely different type of challenge on Sunday.”
“Top teams turn around. They get rid of all the emotion, get rid of all the stuff that’s dragging them down at the minute – which is understandable because they’re young – but they then have to be professional, they have to rehydrate, they have to re-energise and they have to make sure that come kick-off, they are ready to go and are ready to deal with whatever problems we get caused.”
“What they’ve proved to us so far this season is that regardless of the setback, regardless of the challenge, they’ve managed to step up to it.
“So, I’m excited to see what they do. For some of these guys, that’ll have been the biggest setback they’ll have had, and it is tough. We have to give them the tools to deal with it and still to come out on Sunday and say, ‘give me the ball’, ‘I’m still a good player’ because that’s what our Academy is built on, that’s our method of play.
“We’ll now see who’s resilient enough to go and do it on Sunday.”
The kick-off time for the semi-final is 16:10 at the Caledonian Stadium.
