Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SENIOR CITIZENS TO WIELD A KANE
JERMAIN DEFOE insists Rangers’ senior stars will stay right on the case of the kids to try and develop them into Ibrox heroes.
The experienced striker and 30 somethings such as keeper Allan Mcgregor and midfield ace Steven Davis provide manager Steven Gerrard with a switched-on core who have been through every scenario.
Rangers, though, are also looking to produce their own with youngsters such as Nathan Patterson, Lewis Mayo and Jamie Barjonas (inset) earning praise for their efforts during the successful pre-season trip to France.
Barjonas scored the second goal of the game on Saturday as Rangers defeated Nice 2-0 to back up their similar scoreline success over tournament hosts Lyon 48 hours previously.
And Defoe, who bagged the opener in the triumph over Patrick Vieira’s team, is adamant the experienced troops within the group will keep driving the youngsters on.
He said: “It’s not always easy for the younger lads to come in and stuff like that. To come off the bench is always difficult.
“It was a nice finish from Barjo. As senior players, we are trying to sort of test them every day and keep them going.
“We want them to improve and want them at some point to get into the first team and play for this amazing club.”
Barjonas’ goal capped an impressive showing against Nice by the 21-year-old and Gerrard said: “I’m really pleased for Jamie.
“This is the first time since I’ve been here that in a first team game he has really shown personality. We know he’s got that in his game.”