RUSSELL Martin believes his squad are in a better place after tonight’s 4-2 victory over Alloa Athletic in the Premier Sports Cup.
The head coach handed opportunities to a number of players, with 10 changes from the midweek UEFA Champions League qualifier against Viktoria Plzen, and Martin insists it will benefit them moving forward.
Speaking to RangersTV at full-time, he said: “There are lots of good bits, we won the game and got through, but we should’ve scored more goals.
“We gave them two soft goals which is disappointing but some of the players on the pitch haven’t played in a competitive game yet. Hamza and Thelo came back and looked really sharp and really good, and I’m pleased with that.
“There will be a lot of players who finish the day in a much better place than they were before, they have got some minutes in the tank and there will be a lot of learning for them. I am happy we won, and we are through because these can be difficult games but of course there’s a lot to work on and improve.
“I think there was a lot of good intention, so a lot of the guys were really trying to do what they have been asked to do and the stuff we worked on.
“There's a lot to be pleased with and also lots to improve which is exciting because these are the guys at the minute who have been supporting the group that have been playing the most minutes and they have been playing really well and deserved the opportunity to play today and a lot of them will be in a better place.”
On the game, Martin continued: “I think we have to have as much strength and depth as we can. These can be really difficult games, there's loads of frustrating bits for us but I think when you have a team who haven't played together a huge amount, they have trained together a lot but when they haven't played together of course you get a few moments disrupted, a few moments not quite as clean as they should be but on the whole I am happy with their intention and we get through.”
Nedim Bajrami, Emmanuel Fernandez, James Tavernier and Findlay Curtis found the target for Rangers, and Martin praised Curtis, who came off the bench to make an instant impact late in the game.
He continued: “I am pleased for Fin, he probably deserved to play longer but Bailey's injury hurt the planning a little bit. I am so pleased for him. He reacts so brilliantly, he is such a great kid. He really can score, and he is just so hard working.
“His disappointment is obvious after playing the first couple of games and then not playing too much since, but I want him to be disappointed, and he has been, but he has used in a brilliant way, the way he trains and the way he reacts, so I am really pleased for him to score.”
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