On Tuesday, a Rangers XI took on Ayr United in a pre-season fixture.
A whole host of players at various stages of their Ibrox careers were afforded playing time as the Gers ran out 6-1 winners.
The star of the show was young midfielder, Stephen Kelly. Fresh from attending the senior squad pre-season camp in Portugal, the 19-year-old enjoyed an inspired 45 minutes, having only been introduced at half-time.
Building on a first-half strike from Jamie Murphy, Kelly put the game beyond Ayr’s reach with a quickfire hat-trick.
His third goal, a free-kick, was described by the unofficial Rangers Youth Updates Twitter account as ‘stunning’.
Following a brace for the Development team a few days prior, Dapo Mebude netted again, and Andy Dallas completed the scoring with a penalty.
Grezda included
There were multiple senior players involved in the fixture including Graham Dorrans, Jason Holt, Jak Alnwick and goalscorer Murphy.
However, perhaps the most surprising inclusion was Eros Grezda. It seems the £2m signing [Scottish Sun] started the game and was given 45 minutes before being replaced at the interval.
This was the first match involvement for the Albanian international, since a ten-minute cameo against Motherwell in April.
However, it’s unlikely that this game time indicates he still has a future with the club.
Steven Gerrard excluded him from the trip to Portugal that the likes of Kelly and Mebude attended [Daily Record]. He was also nowhere to be seen on
Despite having three years left on his deal [Transfermarkt], if a club stumps up a decent fee for the 24-year-old this summer, it’s highly likely he will leave.
