GIOVANNI van Bronckhorst named Nathan Patterson and Calvin Bassey as two players he’s desperate to keep working with at Rangers.

The Dutchman, 46, was appointed in November but has already been impressed with the Ibrox youngsters both in training and on matchdays.

Bassey, 21, has moved into central defence under the new manager and shown matured performances in the absence of Leon Balogun and Filip Helander.

Patterson, meanwhile, has played just one full match under Van Bronckhorst but has featured both at right-back and higher up the pitch in right-midfield.
And the dedication showing by the pair to improve under the new style at Ibrox has caught the manager’s eye.

“I’m really happy with Nathan”, raved Van Bronckhorst when quizzed over the 20-year-old. “A young player who is very talented and an international for Scotland.

“You can see what he brings to the team, especially the right full-back position. I have two players who can play there and contribute a lot to this team.

“His performance on Thursday was really good and I’m happy with him and looking forward to working with him for a longer time and to develop Nathan into a better player.

“He wants to learn so I think that’s very important for a young player.”

Rangers fans would have been familiar with Bassey as a full-back under Steven Gerrard but Van Bronckhorst has tipped the defender to show his skills in the centre of defence as he listed the attributes which set him apart in the role.

Van Bronckhorst admitted: “I haven’t seen him play a lot as a left-back. I saw some footage but in my five games here he has played as a central defender. I’m really happy with him, he’s got everything for a modern defender.

“He’s very quick, he’s good in the air, physically he’s very strong and we are just working with him on his build-up play.

“He’s a very good kid and like Nathan he’s open to learn new things, to be better every game.”