Playing Cowdenbeath And Dumbarton Is Major Step Down!

Last updated : 07 February 2015 By Footy Mad - Editor

But let's be honest ... the standard of football in that league is frightfully poor.

Shane Ferguson, Remie Streete, Kevin Mbabu, Gael Bigirimana and Haris Vuckic were shipped out en masse to Ibrox on Monday as the links between the two clubs were further strengthened.

Their recruitment prompted something of a storm when manager Kenny McDowall claimed he had been instructed to play all five if they were fit, something later denied by Magpies owner Mike Ashley's right-hand man Derek Llambias, now chief executive at Rangers.

However, Carver is adamant that all parties, and in particular the players themselves, will benefit from the agreement.

He said: "They need to play. They have gone past under-21 football. The under-21s is for good young players who are 16, 17 or 18 and a chance to develop. The guys who have gone up there and past that are ready for senior football.

"It's a great situation for both parties. First of all, they [Rangers] are getting some good players.

"Secondly, we are getting our young players some experience playing in front of 35,000 to 40,000 every other week, under pressure because we know how big that club is - it's a worldwide club.

"Sometimes players have to deal with pressure and these guys are going to have to play under pressure.

"When they come back to us they know what it's all about because our crowd is double and they have to deal with that."