CAMERON CAMPBELL says Rangers Under-18s must cope with the demands placed on them as they kick off their Scottish Youth Cup campaign tomorrow afternoon.
The young Gers host non-league St. Andrews United in the third round and will be keen to reach the showpiece final at the national stadium for the fourth edition in a row.
Speaking to the official Rangers website, Campbell, who has stepped into the Under-18s coaching role following Brian Gilmour and Steven Smith’s interim promotion to first-team affairs, commented: “Irrespective of who the opponent is and what the competition is, all the focus needs to be on us playing at Rangers.
“It’s what we do with the ball and what we do without the ball, and that’s always how we’ll phrase it to the players.
“There will be a lot more demand placed on the players going into the cup competition knowing that the result is the outcome that we’re looking for rather than when it’s sometimes more development games.
“If you look at results only [this season], it’s not what we would have hoped or expected with this talented group of young players, but part of their development is learning to turn performances, which have been there, into results.
“That’s part of their journey as they go through the age groups from Under-18s into the B Team, then hopefully into our first-team.”
Opportunity has knocked for several players in who have played the majority of the campaign at Under-18s level in recent weeks.
2007-born Chris Eadie started and played 75 minutes in last weekend’s B Team clash against AS Monaco at Ibrox having also previously featured in the SPFL Trust Trophy.
In the meantime, Findlay Curtis scored and assisted as a 16-year-old against Alloa Athletic last month, with the young midfielder unfortunately suspended for this weekend’s cup clash due to an accumulation of yellow cards in last season’s competition.
Campbell continued: “Part of the Academy journey is to provide opportunities to players who are deserving of them.
“One of the frustrations that all academies share is that you can’t always control every opportunity that you give to players, especially when it’s looking towards the first-team given how many variable factors that you have.
“But when there’s opportunities to allow our younger players to gain experiences, we’re always trying to push them. Chris playing against Monaco as the youngest player on the pitch, at Ibrox, in a really high level game, is really pleasing to watch.
“Just like all the other boys when they get their opportunities, it’s about grasping it and showcasing what they can do.
“We’ve looked at every player’s current age and stage, and what their pathway looks like, there are obviously a lot of players still eligible to play Under-18s football who haven’t featured this year.
“We can look at Mason Munn, Zander Hutton, Bailey Rice, Zak Lovelace, Archie Stevens and Paul Nsio who are still eligible, but they’re all getting a games programme which is slightly above that.
“In turn, that provides more opportunities for first-year Under-18s who can struggle for game time to go and get exactly that.
“It’s been really pleasing to see how quickly their development has been impacted by it, but when it comes to cup competitions the main aim is to reach Hampden.
“We really love the prestige and take the competition seriously because of what it brings to youth football within Scotland.”