MURTY BACKS GERS KID TO BOUNCE BACK
Murts: Myles will flourish despite derby heartache
GRAEME MURTY reckons Rangers kid Myles Beerman will reap the rewards of his Old Firm bow despite suffering heartache at Hampden on Sunday.
Boss Pedro Caixinha handed the left-back his fourth start for the Scottish Cup semi-final, but it was to prove a disappointing day for the Gers as Celtic ran out comfortable 2-0 winners.
Beerman and fellow youngster David Bates have impressed during their first outings in Light Blue after stepping in for Lee Wallace and Clint Hill. The Maltese youth international was handed a tough assignment against Roberts and was booked for a foul on the Englishman in the first half.
But Murty has backed the 18-year-old to go from strength to strength after his elevation from the Under-20 squad to the first team. He said: “Myles is doing the things our boys’ dream of doing. I’ve got
no doubt I have a group of players who are inordinately jealous of him and wish to be where he was on Sunday.
“We’ll just use it as a catalyst to say ‘There you go fellas, change up what you’re doing, stretch yourself, because the opportunities are there’.
“The manager has already shown he’s not afraid to put young players in.
“Myles is a natural leftback. He is quick, pacy and deals with the ball really well. There are obviously areas for him to develop. But he will develop fastest playing against people like Patrick Roberts.
“My hamstrings had a twinge of sympathy for Myles when Celtic took Patrick off and put James Forrest on!
“That used to happen to me fairly regularly in my playing career. When you are dying at 80 minutes, the opposition put an absolute whippet on against you.
“Myles will have to get used to it, these things happen. When he manages to come down off the ceiling, he will look at playing against someone like Patrick, the pace and technical ability he has, and will never have experienced that before.
“I can’t buy that experience for him and it’s something he has to use in his career going forward.”
The Old Firm will return to Hampden tomorrow night as they go headto-head for the Scottish Youth Cup silverware.
Beerman won’t be part of Murty’s Light Blues squad but the Gers boss hopes his kids are inspired by his rise to prominence in recent weeks.
He said: “He was tired but he was still wide-eyed. He was reliving every moment over and over again. I would be very surprised if he managed much sleep on Sunday night.
“That’s a good thing. We want players who are excited by those kinds of games.
“Hopefully the game on Wednesday will be a small taste of it as well and make our guys hungry for more.”