Rangers boss calms fears over Nathan Patterson development and has say on transfer business at club

Steven Gerrard has assured supporters of both Rangers and Scotland that Nathan Patterson’s development as an elite right-back won’t be hindered by his current lack of regular first team action.

Nathan Patterson has earned praise from Rangers manager Steven Gerrard for his 'fantastic' performance for Scotland against Moldova during the international break. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

Patterson further enhanced his burgeoning reputation during the international break with a fine display for Scotland in their 1-0 win over Moldova at Hampden in the World Cup qualifiers.

But it’s one of only three matches the 19-year-old has played in so far this season which has seen him appear twice for Rangers – in a League Cup tie at home to Dunfermline and away to Alashkert in the Europa League.

Rangers turned down two bids from Everton for Patterson before the transfer window closed last month, the second of them in the region of £8 million which manager Gerrard says was ‘way off’ the Ibrox club’s valuation of the player.

James Tavernier remains Gerrard’s first choice right-back and is expected to return to action against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Saturday, a game Patterson may not be available for after picking up a knock which forced him to withdraw from Scotland’s trip to Austria in midweek.

Gerrard believes Patterson is being tested at an intense level even in training sessions with his squad and insists his career path is best served by remaining at Rangers.

“I appreciate that Nathan’s a big interest to the media up here in Scotland,” said Gerrard. “He did do fantastically well (for Scotland), I watched the game, albeit it was against Moldova.

“Nathan is doing fantastically well and don’t worry about his development because he’s up against Ryan Kent (in training) most days. If he’s not up against Ryan Kent, he’s up against Scott Wright.

“He’s got forwards like Jermain Defoe, Kemar Roofe and Alfredo Morelos who are challenging him every minute of every training session.

“So Nathan will come through and be the number one right back here at Rangers when the time is right. He’s also ready now to compete for the jersey. He’s pushing James in every way he can.

“I believe it is a challenge in every position because I have a loaded squad but that’s what will eventually make us even more successful than what we have been.

“I have no doubt that Nathan Patterson is in the right place from a development point of view and also, he’s a Rangers fan, he loves the club, he’s happy here and settled. He’s more than ready, albeit he’s had a kick this week and we’ll have to wait and see if he’s ready for tomorrow.”

Gerrard was pleased to emerge from the transfer window with his first team squad fully intact as he looks for Rangers to kick on in defence of their Premiership title.

“You always want to keep your best players, the players that are going to give you the best chance of being successful moving forward,” he said.

“But I also understand the business side of it and I was well prepared for my phone going at any given moment if the right bid had landed for a player and the board wanted to accept that.

“To be fair to the board, they have stayed strong in those situations because they have felt they have fallen short of our valuations of those players.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.