NATHAN PATTERSON has revealed that Frank Lampard questioned his decision to take a penalty against Celtic at the Sydney Super Cup.

The former Rangers youngster slotted home his spot-kick against Ange Postecoglou's side for Everton in the shootout after the 90 minutes ended 0-0.

Patterson admitted he was feeling the nerves of the penalty against his former rivals, and he was delighted to see the ball hit the back of the net.

"I've taken a few penalties in training so I was a wee bit confident, that is why I stood up," Patterson told the Liverpool Echo.

"I asked the gaffer and he questioned me and was like: 'Are you sure?' But I like to feel the pressure, when you play football you are in a pressure environment so I am used to it.

"Of course, obviously the pressure in taking the penalty and the pressure of it being against Celtic as well, but I just wanted to step up, I asked to take a pen, I felt confident and slotted it away so I was buzzing to do that."

Scotland international Patterson also praised the Everton support who had made the journey out to Australia.

He added: "The support all the way out here in Australia has been amazing, the city is unbelievable and the weather is great - tough conditions [to play in] but all the boys have done really well.

"The supporters are great. They have come all this way so I wanted to show we are thankful they came, so signed some of the strips and it is great to see them all."

Meanwhile, Kenny Miller believes QPR boss Michael Beale should feature prominently on the shortlist to replace Giovanni van Bronckhorst as Rangers manager.

The Ibrox club sacked the Dutchman on Monday, a year after he was appointed as Steven Gerrard’s successor.

Beale was a highly-regarded coach under Gerrard at Ibrox and more recently at Aston Villa before branching out on his own to become QPR boss in June.

Former Ibrox striker Miller feels the 42-year-old – who has emerged as the odds-on favourite with bookmakers – is the standout option to succeed Van Bronckhorst.

“There’s loads of names that spring to mind, you’ve got the likes of Sean Dyche who’s got connections to (Rangers sporting director) Ross Wilson, the same with Ralph Hasenhuttl,” Miller told Sky Sports.

“One for me that would be right at the top of the list would be Michael Beale. His name’s been bandied about over the last month while Rangers have been toiling.

“I think he fits, he knows the club, he knows the players. There would be no surprises with him walking back into the building in terms of the demands and the expectations of the football club and he’s started off his own journey as a manager pretty well as well so I think he’d be right at the top of the list.”

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