BY IAIN COLLIN – @CCP_sport
RANGERS kid Scott Roberts insists he was delighted to grant manager Mark Warburton’s wish and agree to a loan move.
The 20-year-old joined Raith Rovers recently and has so far made two substitute’s appearances for the Fife side in their Betfred Cup ties against Montrose and Ross County.
The winger is keen to build up his first-team experience after battling back from a serious ankle injury that keep him sidelined for a year earlier in his career.
And the highly-rated youngster has admitted he fully agrees with Warburton’s assertion the Ibrox youth talents need to be farmed out if they are to have any chance of making it into the Rangers top team.
He said: “I’m delighted to be here. I’m at that age where I need to go out for first-team experience and this is probably the best place to get it.
“The manager at Rangers spoke to everybody as a group and said he needs all the young boys to go out and get decent first-team experience.
“From the under-20s to the first-team is totally different, it’s a big jump, so he wants players to get that bit in between, to go out and get some experience and then come back.
“I feel I’ve come to the right place for that. Raith are a good club in the Championship and there are a lot of good teams in the division.
“The Raith manager just wants me to go out and play. He spoke to me and said he wants me to be part of his team, so he’s given me a lot of confidence to come here and play.
“I’m here until January and I’ll do my best until then and, come January, see where I’m at and make a decision from there.”
Perfect
Roberts is following in the footsteps of Rangers team-mate Ryan Hardie in making the move to Raith.
Hardie netted six times in 12 appearances for Rovers in the second half of last season and Roberts is hoping to be as big a success at Stark’s Park.
He added: “I spoke to Ryan Hardie, who was at Raith last season, and he spoke about how good the place was and how good the training was. It’s the perfect place to be.
“If I can do half of what Ryan did then I’ll be happy. He’s a goal-scorer and you don’t get more important than that, but I’ll try my best.”
