STEVEN GERRARD has urged Nathan Patterson to make the most of his Ibrox redemption after he helped Rangers reach the last 16 of the Europa League.
The right-back returned to Gerrard’s squad for the second leg of their clash with Royal Antwerp following a club investigation after he, Bongani Zungu and Calvin Bassey attended a house party that breached Covid protocols.
Patterson scored his first Rangers goal just 17 seconds after appearing as a half-time substitute as Rangers won 5-2 on the night to clinch their place in the next round.
Gerrard said: “I’m surprised that is your first question after a performance like that, but I will answer it anyway.
“Nathan was superb in terms of his football tonight, he came on with the right mentality and brought energy and physicality and obviously scored a wonderful goal.
“It was the reaction that he needed and that we needed for the team, more importantly. He has had a whirlwind week, along with the other two, and we are trying to draw a line under it.
READ MORE: Rangers boss Steven Gerrard hoping to face Premier League side in Europa League
“They have been punished internally and they have been spoken to internally. We hope that they all learn from that moving forward and the quicker we can move on the better.”
Patterson has become a significant part of Gerrard’s squad this term as he has provided back-up for captain James Tavernier but he would miss the first leg win in Belgium after being forced to isolate following his rules breach.
The 19-year-old recently signed a new long-term contract at Ibrox and Gerrard hopes he can put a significant error of judgement behind him and realise his potential with Rangers.
Gerrard said: "It's been quite a week and it should be the biggest learning curve of that boys career.
"He's a fantastic kid and he comes from a lovely family. He needs to understand what the people top to bottom at this football club think of Nathan.
"He's got an opportunity and he needs to learn from this and make sure it doesn't happen again. He's a wonderful footballer with a big future ahead of him.
"As someone with four kids myself I want to be someone who gives people a second chance.
"I have made similar mistakes myself. I hope he takes on board what we have said to him this week.”
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel