The Young Gers continued their strong start to the Lowland League by claiming all three points in Dumbarton, earned through goals from Connor Young, Arron Lyall and Robbie Ure.
Speaking exclusively to RangersTV after the win, Smith was delighted at his side’s persistence in the second half: "I felt there was a lot of good stuff in the first half without the last bit of quality or the final action. We were unlucky with a few set pieces, balls flying across goal, we hit the post, then they give us a little scare with a couple of moments in the penalty box. We don’t deal with the small bits then it becomes a little bit untidy.
"The guys have got to bounce back from that and deal with the next situation and I thought for the large part they did that. They scored at the time they did but the guys responded. We trusted them to go finish off the game strongly and they managed to get two goals to make the performance a little bit closer to what it looked results wise.
"Defensively we’d love to be keeping more clean sheets, but we’re in a tough environment. It’s men’s football. It’s the level that the guys are going to achieve to get to the next step in their career and get to the first team. They have to handle setbacks and disappointments, going behind, all of these things that challenge them and are put in front of them. It’s our job to help, guide and work with them to make sure we have strong outcomes at the end of it.
David McCallum made six changes to his starting lineup from the midweek clash with Liverpool in the UEFA Youth League, with the second half substitutes making a big impact off the bench to help restore Rangers’ lead.
Smith continued: "We made changes to the starting lineup, guys coming in. We know that in the next six weeks we have 13 games so we need everyone. It’s a squad thing. The guys got their opportunity today and caused a few headaches.
"The guys that were rested as well, we’ve popped on a couple towards the end to see the game out. We know that the guys that came in can do a job and the guys that came off the bench can do a job. As I said before, we’re going to need everyone over the next seven weeks to come out with strong performances and a strong result at the end of it.
"It’s a work in progress, we believe in these players and see them day-in-day-out. It’s about putting these small pieces together and making sure we get performances as close to complete as possible. We know that with the various opposition that holds its own challenges and tests within that.
"The boys are working these things out. We’re challenging them and they’re challenging us to try to put everything together to make sure that we have a strong league campaign and a strong UEFA Youth League campaign as well."
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