Steven Gerrard throws a gauntlet down to young Rangers as he hopes for more like Patterson

Steven Gerrard has a warning for rising stars who want to be part of his Rangers revolution.

The Ibrox boss would love to see young Scots forcing their way into the first team.

Gerrard knows the fans love a local hero – he was one himself at Liverpool.

But the former midfielder questions if some of the youth players at Rangers have the mindset needed to make it big in football.

One young man he has no doubt about is Nathan Patterson.

The 19-year-old started against Lech Poznan in Thursday’s Europa League victory.

His manager believes the full-back has what it takes to go all the way.

However, he’s not sure the club have many other youngsters ready to make the step up.

Gerrard said: “I’m someone who came from an academy and I had a connection with a local, homegrown crowd at Liverpool.

“So I know what the fans want and I’m aware of what young, homegrown players want in terms of their dreams and ambitions.

“I want to put young Scottish talent into this group, but they have to play their part as well.

“It’s OK saying that the academy is full of this and that. But is it?

“The question for me is, is the academy full of talent?

“Talent isn’t enough. We need players who have the full package.

“Nathan certainly has that potential. Not only is he a talent, but he’s hard-working and humble.

“His application every day is superb and he’s a good kid. He’s respectful and wants to learn.

“And he’s ready. There are a lot of pieces that have to go around the talent.

“Patterson is very important here. He’s not a back-up right-back – he’s a top right-back within our group.

“And when called upon, we have every faith and confidence in him. His performance on Thursday shows that he’s ready. Of course, he’s still learning and he’s a little bit raw.

“But I love that enthusiasm and the adrenalin that was pumping out of his body.

“We’ve got high hopes of a big future for Nathan.”

This isn’t the first time that Gerrard has questioned the output from the Rangers youth academy.

Back in July, he indicated there was an attitude problem among some of the players.

Winger Kai Kennedy – currently out on loan at Inverness Caley Thistle – was stalling on signing a new contract and Gerrard was far from happy.

He said at the time: “I’ve been hearing a few things down at the academy that there’s been a bit of ego about. They won’t be around me.”

Talks with Kennedy have resumed, but it’s clear that Gerrard won’t tolerate players who aren’t prepared to give their all.

He also places importance on discipline.

Rangers have managed to clean up their act this season. They haven’t yet had a player sent off and are bottom of the yellow-card table in Scotland’s top flight.

Of course, a rather more-subdued Alfredo Morelos (inset)helps those statistics but Gerrard takes a wider view of the situation and is pleased in the improvement from 18 months ago.

He said: “In terms of discipline, we’re a lot closer now to how we’ve always wanted it to look.

“We’ve always known what we wanted.

“But that takes time to build. We weren’t proud of our discipline at that time.

“We’re representing a club with tradition, Rangers are a classy club that is all about standards from top to bottom.

“As a group, we were responsible for not having the right discipline.

“It’s something that we’ve worked ever so hard to improve.

“You have to give individual players within that real credit because they’ve shown signs of development and learning.

“As a staff, we’re responsible for how the team looks on the pitch and it’s a collective thing that we’ve tried to be better at.

“We need to keep doing the right things on and off the pitch.”

Gerrard makes his first trip to Tannadice today for the noon clash with Dundee United.

He said: “The name Dundee United means a lot.

“From afar, I watched Dundee derbies and I know how close the stadiums are.

“I’ve also been brought up to speed on the history, Rangers’ relationship with Dundee United and what the game means.

“There’s a rivalry there, so it’s a game we’re looking forward to.

“They’ve got a really shrewd manager there in Micky Mellon.

“It will be a difficult game for us because our 4-0 scoreline at Ibrox flattered us a little bit.”