Young Ibrox defender’s baptism of fire in El Madrigal is Worrall-wind experience
EXPERIENCE. That was the key word used when Nottingham Forest boss Aitor Karanka sent Joe Worrall out on loan to Rangers.
And the £10million-rated stopper certainly got that as Steven Gerrard threw him straight in at the deep end for his Light Blues debut on a dramatic night against Villarreal.
It doesn’t come much tougher than facing a La Liga side that finished FROM GAVIN BERRY IN SPAIN fifth last season on their own patch but after a hard start the Gers found their feet to earn a priceless draw.
The England Under-21 defender’s gone from Millwall to El Madrigal in the space of six months with his last appearance for Forest as a sub in a 2-0 defeat at the New Den in March.
That lack of game time meant Karanka was happy for him to leave, saying: “Experience is the key word. You need to play to get experience,” as Gerrard signed him on a season-long loan on deadline day.
It took less than a minute of his Gers debut for him to learn how cruel life can be at this level as the ball deflected off him in Carlos Bacca’s path for Villarreal’s opener.
Gerrard’s decision to start Worrall
was the eyebrow-raising decision in his starting line-up as he broke up the Connor Goldson-Nikola Katic pairing which has been so solid.
It was a bold move with the boss saying before kick-off that Katic looked jaded and had they lost questions would have been asked.
Worrall had a lucky escape in the second half when he played Karl Toko Ekambi onside with Allan McGregor forced to rush from his line to save before Bacca missed an open goal from the rebound.
Gerrard will hope the Englishman can now build on this learning experience as it was for much of his team – and even the club itself.
This was the latest box ticked in the rehabilitation of Rangers since their financial collapase in 2012 as they competed in the group stage of a European competition for the first time in eight years.
Five years ago this weekend they were grinding out a 1-0 win at Forfar in League One so being on this stage again shows how far they have come.
A trip to this small Spanish seaside town is quite a contrast to Angus and the 2200 fans no doubt reminded themselves of that as they celebrated last night.