Rangers boss Michael Beale has praised Alex Lowry whilst highlighting that he can’t play against the Gers at Hampden Park.
The Gers booked a passage to the Scottish League Cup semi-finals on Wednesday night, hammering Livingston 4-0 at Ibrox.
Abdallah Sima and Ridvan Yilmaz fired Rangers 2-0 up before a Luiyi de Lucas own goal put the game out of sight.
Ryan Jack added a fourth in injury-time with Rangers coasting to victory and a semi-final meeting with Heart of Midlothian.
Hearts beat Kilmarnock 2-1 on Tuesday night to set up this clash, with Rangers loanee Alex Lowry scoring a dramatic late winner.
Michael Beale comments on Alex Lowry
20-year-old Lowry has been sent on loan to Hearts for the season and this was his first big moment for the Jambos.
Lowry showed exceptional footwork to carve out the chance, finding the back of the Killie net with a smart finish.
Rangers boss Beale has now commented on Lowry, telling the Daily Record that he thought the youngster’s goal against Kilmarnock was ‘fantastic’.
Beale did then note that Lowry will not be able to play against Rangers in the semi-finals due to the terms of his loan move.
Beale thinks the games against Hearts are ‘exciting’ even with Lowry unable to take part at Hampden Park.
“Alex Lowry our boy went there and scored a fantastic finish so I’m delighted for him and he won’t be able to play,” said Beale. “I went to see him at the weekend and Steven has done a good job and both semi-finals look like fantastic games on paper. It’s exciting,” he added.
Rangers will hope to see Lowry kick on
There has been plenty of excitement around Lowry having seen him break into the Rangers first team setup.
The path from the Rangers youth setup to regular first-team minutes isn’t an easy one though and few have managed to break through.
Lowry looked like making that jump but managed just seven first-team appearances last season.
That just isn’t enough for Lowry to continue his development and a loan move was the right call.
Progress at Hearts has been a little slow so far but Tuesday’s goal will hopefully give Lowry the momentum he needs to really kick on and prove to Beale that he deserves a first-team spot at Rangers moving forward.
