Borna Barisic told Friday’s press conference – as per Rangers TV – that the Ibrox club have a “very good” youngster coming through the ranks in Adam Devine, and says it is “nice to see” a young player performing so well in his place.
Devine, 19, was used on the left side of defence in Michael Beale’s first three games in charge. Barisic remained on international duty at the World Cup with Croatia. Barisic and Croatia reached the third-place play-off, winning.
It meant right-back Devine played on his wrong side against Hibernian, Aberdeen and Ross County. All of which, Rangers won. Against Motherwell, he came off the bench and against Celtic, Devine remained an unused substitute.
Barisic was asked about the man that replaced him, with Ridvan Yilmaz out injured. He spoke highly of the young Scotland Under-21 defender – praising his performances in his absence. Barisic is confident Devine can “deliver”.
“He a good guy, he always wants to learn – always very focused in training. He’s a very good player. he has showed that in the previous few games that he can deliver. I hope he will be a big player, it is nice to see young players.”
Barisic: Rangers have a very good youngster coming through in Devine
With Barisic impressing following his return from Qatar, Devine now has an issue. Like Nathan Patterson did before the Scotland international’s £16million move to Everton. He finds himself behind Barisic, and James Tavernier.
Two of the first names on Beale’s team sheet. Devine will consider himself first reserve to Tavernier and to Barisic, with Yilmaz still out injured. But he is going to have to feed of scraps, the odd sub outing, the Cup games.
It might be a question of how long can he see himself doing so, before being tempted with a move away from the club. Can he make a big enough impression as Patterson did, to force his way into the reckoning? Time will tell.
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