Rangers progressed to the last 16 with one goal coming from an unlikely source
Just days ago it appeared that Nathan Patterson might not have a future at Rangers.
After his goal on Thursday night, he’s now the toast of Ibrox.
Having breached Covid-19 protocols by attending a house party earlier this month alongside fellow Rangers players Dapo Mebude, Bongani Zungu, Calvin Bassey and Brian Kinnear, the 19-year-old faced an uncertain time.
Along with Zungu and Bassey, the Scotland under-21 international apologised for his behaviour on Rangers TV the day before the second leg of his side’s Europa League round of 32 tie against Royal Antwerp.
The trio were named on the bench by Steven Gerrard for the vital European match.
Bassey came on as a replacement for Steven Davis with eight minutes remaining, but the contribution of Patterson was more significant.
He replaced Leon Balogun at half-time with the game level at 1-1, and within 16 seconds of the restart he’d put the home side 2-1 up with his first goal for the club.
Patterson went on to produce an impressive display, and former Ibrox midfielder Alex Rae was effusive in his praise.
Speaking on BT Sport after the match, Rae compared Patterson to Alan Hutton, who produced a series of excellent performances at right-back before leaving Rangers for Tottenham in a £9m move.
Rae said: “Without doubt he’s the standout talent within that academy. It’s been a while since they’ve produced a player of that calibre.
“I think it’s Alan Hutton, when you go back, a similar mould going forward.
“It’s a warning shot for the guy. He’s obviously going to have to learn from that.
“I think he’s got a good reputation. They want to see a pathway going through so that kids can come through, but I think overall he will learn from this, because he is the successor to James Tavernier.”
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