‘Natural’ Hardie makes scoring look so easy
Gary Holt insists he is confident of retaining Ryan Hardie for the remainder of the campaign after hailing the hit-man as a born goalscorer.
The 21-year-old is on a season-long loan from Rangers, but could feasibly be recalled if he impresses Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard while starring for Livingston.
One would suspect Hardie’s showings since returning from a persistent ankle injury have certainly piqued the interest of Ibrox chiefs, after he notched his fourth goal in just three appearances in yesterday’s 1-1 draw against Hibernian.
However, his manager Holt believes Rangers will be content for him to get a full season under his belt in West Lothian and allow Livi to reap the rewards of being able to call upon a youngster with ice in his veins.
“I think Rangers will be delighted that he is scoring goals,” Holt said when the notion was broached.
“You can’t forget that he has been out for eight months and, although we are reaping the rewards of having him, we are also giving him a platform to play.
“He is a massive asset to us. We’ve been fortunate to have boys who have stepped in and been able to do a job for games but to have Ryan, a natural goalscorer, is important.
“You saw it with his goal. He told me he was going to round the keeper, but when he came out that made it easy for him. I was thinking it was a great finish – he thinks it’s easy!
“That is testament to someone who is a natural No. 9 and thrives on scoring goals. Defensively, and what he does off the ball, could be better but if you put the ball in front of the goal, he’ll find the net.”
Hardie’s strike looked destined to decide the contest when Liam Kelly saved Florian Kamberi’s tame penalty, however, Holt concedes that he was not counting his chickens at that point.
And so it proved, when Ryan Porteous levelled late on.
“When Liam saves the penalty I’m still not thinking it’s our day. There was still too long left,” smiled Holt.
“I was looking at the clock, thinking ‘It’s going backwards here!’”