Promising Rangers striker Dapo Mebude has admitted he endured a sleepless night ahead of his Queen of the South debut on Saturday [Queen of the South FC YouTube].
Mebude’s loan switch to Palmerston Park was announced on Thursday, much to the delight of QoS manager Allan Johnston, who had tried and failed to sign the 19-year-old in each of the last three transfer windows.
It’s a first loan stint for the 19-year-old striker, who made his Rangers first-team debut in 2019 but had been stuck with the Gers B team for the first half of this season.
He wasn’t deemed ready to start his adopted side’s home fixture against Morton in the Championship on Saturday afternoon, given that it fell only 48 hours after his transfer had been confirmed.
Yet, he was afforded a 14-minute runout as a substitute and he ended up on the winning side, with the hosts triumphing 2-1.
“I loved it,” said Mebude of his debut outing [Queen of the South FC YouTube]. “Last night I couldn’t really sleep, I was excited to just get going because I’ve wanted to play first-team football from a really young age.”
“I think there have been a lot of things going on, like being around the Rangers first team and learning off a lot of the players there which has been invaluable for me. Learning off players like Jermain Defoe for example. I think after my [Rangers] debut, that was the next learning part for me and I think, this season, it’s time to kick on and to start to get experience.
“I’m just really coming here to show people what I can do and getting minutes and games under my belt will do me the world of good.”
Mebude has plenty of familiar faces on hand to help him settle in at QoS, including fellow Gers loanees James Maxwell and Rhys Breen and former Ibrox youngster Kieran McKechnie.
He’ll be hoping to show Johnston enough in training over the coming days to earn a start at Inverness next weekend, as with only half of the Championship season remaining, he can’t afford to take too long to find his feet if he’s to make the most of this opportunity.
Another Rangers loanee has earned considerable praise for his role in a big Championship upset on Saturday.