Rangers boss Steven Gerrard doesn't plan to recall Ross McCrorie early from Portsmouth loan spell

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Steven Gerrard has no plans to recall Ross McCrorie early from his Pompey loan spell.

And the Rangers boss wants the midfielder to follow in the footsteps of team-mate Greg Docherty and thrive away from Ibrox.

McCrorie moved to Fratton Park earlier this month and has already displayed signs of his quality.

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The 21-year-old delivered a standout performance in Saturday's 1-0 pre-season victory at Stevenage.

Gerrard sent McCrorie to the south coast to play week in, week out and bolster his chances of becoming a regular at the Scottish giants in the future.

The Gers boss did the same with Docherty last term. He spent 2018-19 at Shrewsbury and has reaped the rewards.

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But if the Scotland under-21 international is getting regular football under Kenny Jackett, Gerrard won’t be taking that up.

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The Liverpool legend told heraldscotland.com: ‘Ross McCrorie is in a very similar situation to what the Doc was in 12 months ago.

‘Where they are at in their careers, they needed to go and play 40-45 games. If I’m not in a position to promise them that, the best thing sometimes is to go to the right club with the right manager and have that opportunity

‘In your career, your first 150 games are probably the ones where you learn the most. And you probably need to play quite regularly to do that.

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‘We are hoping that Ross follows suit and has a real strong, positive loan and he can be back with us in a year’s time.

‘We have got a call-back on Ross, but I’ve got no plans to call him back if the loan is positive.

‘I can’t pick Kenny Jackett’s team, but I hope he plays quite regularly.’

Pompey were hit with a hammer blow last January when Ben Thompson was recalled by Millwall.

The midfielder had moved to the Blues on a season-long loan in August 2018 but his scintillating performances prompted Neil Harris to take him back to the Den midway through his spell.

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