Rangers youngster Zak Rudden’s frustrating start to the season continued on Saturday afternoon.
Some of his fellow Gers Academy stars are away on international duty this weekend. The likes of Dapo Mebude and Nathan Paterson are involved with Scotland U19s, while the McCrorie’s and Glenn Middleton have been in action for the U21s.
Yet, perhaps because of a recent injury, Rudden wasn’t selected for either squad. That’s despite netting a hattrick for the U19s back in March.
Instead, he was in action for his recently adopted EFL club, Plymouth Argyle.
The 19-year-old forward joined Ryan Lowe’s side on a six-month loan deal late last month. He’s been there for just over two weeks, but he’s already got multiple appearances under his belt. He’s started two fixtures but found himself dropped to the bench for Saturday’s clash at home to Oldham.
He was introduced after 54 minutes, with the game in the balance at 1-1. Yet, he wasn’t able to open his Plymouth account in what was his fifth outing [Soccerbase].
Plymouth briefly took the lead through Byron Moore in the 74th minute, but David Wheater cancelled it out just three minutes later.
Rudden did come close to grabbing the headlines at the death, but his 89th-minute effort from close range was saved by Gary Woods.
On a day when fellow loanee Jake Hastie netted on debut, Rudden is sure to be a little frustrated by his own situation.
However, he still has several months worth of playing time left during which to make an impact. By notching 12 times at Falkirk last season, he proved an ability to find the net in senior football and if he sticks at it, he’ll soon reap the rewards.
