Job done and into the next round of the cup – what was your assessment of the game tonight?

As you said the important thing was to go into the next round – we had to be alert against a team who plays in the lower leagues. I think we were very alert, a decent performance. We didn’t take all the chances we got but I’m really happy because we’re into the next round and that is all that counts today. I saw some positive things, the chance for Alex [Lowry] to come into the game and play the way he did was very satisfying for me. I’m happy for him that he made his debut and I’m looking forward to working with him in the future because I think he is one of the big talents we have. Leon King also played and we gave more minutes to players coming back from injury, Leon Balogun has been out for the whole time I’ve been at the club. Kemar [Roofe] could play some minutes. The only thing is we need to wait and see how Ianis [Hagi] is, he had a knock on his calf so we have to assess him tomorrow.

Alex Lowry seemed very composed – that must have impressed you?

I’ve seen him in training many times, you could see his qualities. He has many things to improve yet, but he is already at a good standard. You could see he was enjoying his game and he didn’t seem nervous. The goal he scored was very composed, he passed the ball into the goal! I’m very pleased with his performance.

How important was it for Cedric Itten to get a goal?

It is really good, we called him back from his loan spell in Germany because I don’t think it was working for him. We decided to bring him back, to give more options in attack and of course with Morelos not available for the coming games, Itten back in the squad and Kemar are there as options. We need all the options we have for the coming weeks. It’s going to be a difficult schedule with hard games.

Was it important to get minutes into Barker and Simpson?

It’s always nice to give players who are working hard in training a runout and today they were options we had. We made a lot of changes so for Brandon [Barker] and Jack [Simpson] it was good to play a competitive game again.

What does Fashion Sakala need to do to cement a starting spot?

I’ve used Sakala many times, it’s a player with a lot of qualities. He’s not afraid to take players on one-v-one, he’s fast. You can see his drive today was really good and of course, he has things to improve but I’m here to improve my players and he’s open to improving. He’s a nice player and person to work with so I’m really happy for him. He scored a goal and is defiantly one of the players who will get game time in the coming weeks because he always is a threat for defenders.

Kemar Roofe got some minutes, how is he feeling after that?

Good. It’s good to give him minutes, he played against Hibs and started against Lyon but after that had problems again, I’m happy that he is back because he has worked hard to get back to full fitness as soon as possible.

How important is it to give youngsters a chance?

Of course, as a player I came also from the Feyenoord youth academy so I know the pathway many players have to take to reach the first team eventually. The youth set-up at Rangers is at a good level and you can see the qualities that Alex has. I’m really pleased for him and I gave him a chance because I have full confidence in him. He has a long way ago but I’m looking forward in the future to working with him. Charlie McCann to is another player who has been training with us a lot and is a midfielder with a lot of quality, it’s good to get the academy players involved again and I want them to improve every day and make it more difficult for me to choose players. I like the energy young players have, they have a lot of energy, they want to work and improve. We just make sure we keep them on the right path.

Will Itten be used as a starter as well as a substitute?

We called him back because he has qualities that are different from Morelos and Roofe, sometimes a game will need a striker like him. We didn’t bring him back just to be on the bench, we brought him back to give the squad something different. I’m sure his qualities will be needed for the rest of the season.

How impressed were you with Stirling Albion?

They did really well, they were very compact and made it difficult. They tried to, when they recovered the ball, make quick transitions with their fast forwards. I think the No.8 had a decent game in the first half and made it very difficult for our midfield players. You could see especially in the first half the centre-backs blocking shots. It’s the beauty of the cup, not only in Scotland I’ve seen it in Holland, Spain, England. There are always surprises, you just have to make sure you are not the surprise! That’s what we did and I think Stirling can be very proud of their performance, it was a good experience to come here. For us we should have won the game and we did.