Glasgow Rangers midfielder Matt Crooks scored a winner last night.
Accrington Stanley’s Matt Crooks
Matt Crooks signed on for Rangers last summer as part of a double deal along with Josh Windass, which angered their former club Accrington Stanley.
While Windass has earned a role in Rangers’ first team squad, Crooks struggled to make an impact, and manager Mark Warburton decided he would play no further part in January, sending him on loan to Scunthorpe United.
Last night he made a telling impact for the Iron, scoring an impressive last minute goal in the 2-1 win over Rochdale.
Manager Graham Alexander spoke glowingly about Crooks after the game, telling the club website he felt the midfielder was their key man throughout.
He said: “If you look at our first goal, it was a fantastic tackle initially (from Crooks) and it set the tone for the rest of the half.
Crooks’ contribution will be a welcome confidence boost for him, after an dissatisfying start to his Rangers career.
The midfielder has a chance to really get into a rhythm before coming back an hitting the ground running in pre-season back in Scotland.
It may be frustrating for him to miss out on Rangers’ new start under new boss Pedro Caixinha right away, but he is harnessing this in the right way and putting himself in position to succeed later down the line.
New Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha during the press conference
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