Peter Lovenkrands has spoken to Rangers.co.uk about Tuesday’s impressive Development team victory at the Hummel Training Centre.
The young Gers defeated EFL League Two side, Cambridge United 2-0.
By all accounts, they took down a physical and experienced opposition, delighting their coach.
While he praised the application shown from all his players, he singled out goalscorers, Andy Dallas and Jamie Barjonas for particular praise.
“I am proud of the boys coming up against a League Two team in England who are a very physical team, they have had some really good results in pre-season so for us to go and get a win and a clean sheet is really great for the boys,” Lovenkrands told Rangers.co.uk. “I thought they dealt with the physicality of the game really well.”
“The movement of the ball was excellent and there were some really good individual performances but as a team it was a top top performance today, and we are all really delighted with the boys.
“It was a really good build-up to the first goal, the play through and the passing and then we had a wee bit of luck with the slip through but credit to Andy Dallas to realise it and take a gamble on it and going on and finishing it so it was a really good start for us.
“The goal in the second half from Barjonas he’s just got that in him. I told him so many times that he needs to shoot more because he has got that in him. His goal was a really really good goal and from then on I think we looked comfortable.”
Verdict
Fellow Reserves coach Graeme Murty rarely dishes out lavish praise. However, Lovenkrands has gone down a different route here and perhaps rightly so.
For a side that boasted just two established first-team players in Jamie Murphy and Glenn Middleton, the Development outfit dealt extremely well with this senior opposition.
The Academy coaches are trying to ensure all teams are playing the Rangers way. Yet, it’s encouraging to see that when required, these youngsters can hold their own in a physical battle, too.
