Rangers interim boss Graeme Murty has warned the Gers youngsters against becoming complacent after breaking into the first team.

The likes of Ross McCrorie and Aidan Wilson have broken into the first team picture this season, while almost all off the Under-20 players have trained with the senior team at some point.




And Murty explained that the progress of the starlets show that there is a pathway present between the academy and the first team.

However, the 42-year-old, who is currently not in charge of the Under-20s due to his involvement with the senior squad, thinks the youngsters have to be trained in such a manner that they keep striving to go to the next level even after getting into the first team.
 


“There’s a pathway and we’ve got a lot of coaches here who work long, long hours every day”, Murty said on Rangers TV.

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“And if we thought there wasn’t a pathway for our young talented players to go and progress into the first team, it would be almost a waste.

“But it’s not because we can see young people being promoted to the first team.

“We can see Liam Kelly and Robby McCrorie training with the first team every day.

“Ross has now moved up, Aidan [Wilson], Jamie [Barjonas] and most of the Under-20s have trained with the first team at some stage.

“So, they know what it is like, they have experienced it and we just have to make sure that we keep that pathway open and that we have enough hungry and talented players who are desperate to get on that pathway and get to the first team.

“It’s no good bringing them in and showing them this fantastic facility with a great football team and not having people who have got the desire to go to the next level.

“Even in the first team you got to have that desire to push onto the next level, the next contract, the next standard.

“That doesn’t mean you have to leave the club, it just means that your drive can take this club further.

“If we can take the younger players on and train them in that way, I think it will be very good for the future of the club and the academy as a whole.”

Rangers Under-20s have decided against playing in the Development League this season and have instead created a Games Programme, which sees them facing Premier League opponents and other European teams.