Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver has raved about Rangers winger Josh McPake, who he believes has the ability to reach the ‘next level’ [Lanarkshire Live Sport].
McPake – who has one senior Ibrox appearance to his name – spent the second half of last season working under Weaver at Harrogate, building up experience of senior football.
The 19-year-old scored four goals in 23 EFL League Two appearances and played in their FA Trophy final win over Concord Rangers at Wembley.
He subsequently accepted a contract extension at Ibrox and has signed a loan deal at Morecambe, who will be playing in League One this season after gaining promotion via the playoffs.
McPake left a lasting impression on Weaver, who believes the Scotland youth cap has the talent required to become an excellent player.
“Josh has got a lot of ability,” he said [Lanarkshire Live Sport]. “When the penny dropped here, he knew his off-the-ball work had to match his obvious talent and when it was matched, he was too hot to handle at times in League Two.”
“It wasn’t something that happened overnight, but in the games when he was fully charged up and raring to go, they were the games where he was excellent for us.
“He’s very capable of taking himself to the next level and playing even higher than League One, where he is now with Morecambe. We hope he does well there because it would be a success story for us as well, that we’ve had him on loan, he’s had a good time in terms of the number of games he’s played and he’s gone back to Rangers a better player.”
These comments from Weaver will excite Rangers fans, many of whom wouldn’t have had a chance to see much of McPake in action at Harrogate last season.
It’s confirmation that tieing the teenager down until 2024 was a very smart piece of business and it’ll be interesting to see how he kicks on at Morecambe.
In-game work ethic was clearly an issue before but now that he knows what’s required, better results should follow.
