Steven Gerrard’s fear going into the international break mainly revolved around young winger Glenn Middleton.
The left-winger is the club’s only recognised talent down that flank at the moment. There’s yet to be an update on Ryan Kent’s availability after picking up a hamstring knock before the international break.
Considering how light Rangers are down the left, Gerrard is relying on young Middleton to produce. Jamie Murphy’s injury continues to be a long-term one, so the responsibility is on the youngster to stay fit and perform.
The Rangers manager left a warning for Scotland Under-19 coach Billy Stark regarding Middleton’s fitness. He was concerned about the youngster having three games over a 10-day period. This resulted in Gerrard subsequently warning Scotland to take care of his talent.
Fortunately for Rangers, Stark has done just that. Despite Middleton appearing in the 2-1 win at Wales for 83 minutes, he didn’t feature at all in the 5-0 rout of San Marino. Middleton wasn’t even on the bench, with Scotland cruising to victory without him.
A sensible decision
This is likely to be down to the advice from Gerrard regarding his fitness levels. The Rangers manager needs Middleton fit and ready for when club football starts back next weekend, and it appears he’ll get that.
The former Norwich City talent is likely to feature in a huge match against Sweden on Tuesday afternoon. Another win and Scotland will have bagged nine points out of nine in their Euro 2019 qualification campaign.
That would be a huge achievement for Stark and his young guns. The likes of Middleton, Harry Cochrane, and Billy Gilmour would all be expected to feature in the contest – showing the high value of these qualifiers.
Meanwhile. Dapo Mebude continued his meteoric rise at international level with the opener against San Marino after just 21 minutes. This follows him winning the penalty that won the opening match against Wales.
Fellow Rangers academy talents Jordan Houston, Matthew Shiels, and Stephen Kelly all played 90 minutes against San Marino in the rout.
