Rangers manager Philippe Clement appears to have opened the door for Alex Lowry to compete for a place at Ibrox when he returns to the Scottish Premiership giants from his loan spell at Hearts.
If Clement had his way, Alex Lowry probably would have featured against his parent club on Wednesday night too.
And, yes, we all know the risks. The sight of a Rangers owned player scoring past Jack Butland and extending Celtic’s lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership table would be an embarrassment the Glasgow giants could do without.
But it’s a testament to Lowry’s potential that Clement was keen to see the 20-year-old strut his stuff at close quarters, speaking in glowing terms about a silky young midfielder honing his talents during a loan spell at Tynecastle.
Philippe Clement a big fan of Rangers’ Alex Lowry
“I didn’t see him against us, of course. It’s illogical these things are the way they are,” Clement tells Rangers Review, his side triumphing 1-0 away at Hearts thanks to another Abdallah Sima strike.
“(Lowry is) a young player with a lot of good offensive qualities. I think it was the right decision, if you see the squad, to let him go on loan and to learn a different part of football. And that’s the part without the ball.
“He’s taking steps in that, and I think he’s in a really good environment there with a good manager to help him become a stronger player for the future.”
Lowry made only seven appearances for Rangers in 2022/23. He has already exceeded that tally at Hearts, playing regular first-team football for the first time over in Edinburgh. As Clement himself alludes to, however, Ibrox is already home to a litany of talented attacking midfielders, including Sam Lammers, Tom Lawrence and Todd Cantwell.
And that is without mentioning Ianis Hagi, also out on loan for the remainder of the campaign.
So much competition
“Alex is a young player who has to learn the game with his decision making. He had some brilliant moments today,” Hearts boss and former Rangers forward Steven Naismith told Football Scotland after October’s Edinburgh derby draw with Hibernian.
“Over the coming weeks and months, he’ll improve his decision making which is the biggest part he needs to get better at.”
