NEW signing Andrius Velicka helped himself to his first Rangers goal in a 3-1 victory over Morton behind closed doors at Murray Park yesterday.
The former Hearts striker fired home in the closing stages of the second half to put the seal on a comfortable win by the home team.
With Rangers sending a strong team to Clyde last night, the side which faced Morton included several reserves as w
ell as the likes of Kris Boyd, Daniel Cousin and Christian Dailly.
Charlie Adam set Rangers on their way with a powerful strike after 12 minutes and Cousin grabbed the second from close range after showing composure to unlock the Morton defence.
Between those goals came a headed equaliser from Morton's Brian Wake, but Rangers remained in control and went on to make seven changes in the second half.
Velicka and fellow new recruit Kyle Lafferty entered the action in the 62nd minute – Lafferty for his debut after his move from Burnley. And Lithuanian Velicka had the final say when he netted Rangers' third goal late on.
Meanwhile, Rangers defender Carlos Cuellar has been named club and players' player of the year.
The Spaniard enjoyed a magnificent debut campaign at Ibrox after joining from Osasuna last summer, and had already been named SPL and Scottish Football Writers' Association player of the year.
Rangers will, as expected, play FBK Kaunas in the second qualifying round of the Champions League after the Lithuanians beat Andorran minnows Santa Colomo 3-1 at home for a 7-2 aggregate win.
The full article contains 264 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
