As one Rangers side were celebrating scoring four goals yesterday, there will be a few fringe players from another nervously reflecting after conceding the same number.
The Rangers first-team brushed Motherwell aside 4-0 as Joe Aribo stole the show and the club’s pre-season preparations continue to go from strength-to-strength.
But for some of those players on the fringes, it was a difficult day at the Rangers Training Centre where they fell to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Dundee United.
In absolute fairness, it was a squad littered with young talent and a match designed in order for them to get some experience playing against one of the country’s top teams.
Dundee United might’ve just came up from the Championship but there’s no reason to believe they won’t be able to mix it in the top tier.
But forgetting this is a match where a couple of 16-year-olds came on and an array of young talented started, there are still three or four names which failed to grab a real opportunity to impress.
Jordan Jones, Greg Stewart, Greg Docherty and Ross McCrorie all sit on the fringes of the Ibrox squad and all started this match for the B team.
Compare this with the likes of Jamie Barjonas, Jamie Murphy and Brandon Barker, who all got minutes for the first-team against Motherwell.
This would suggest that these players are higher up the Ibrox pecking order than the others, with some players needing to prove what they can bring to the table sooner rather than later.
With a monumental season on the horizon, there can be no dead weight as Rangers look to push for 55.
Time may well be running out for these guys to prove that they can be a major part of the title push.
