I went to Dumbarton on Wednesday night to see the Rangers Colts play in the Irn-Bru Cup and it was disappointing to see them lose 2-1.

A couple of the Under-20 sides, including the likes of Celtic and Hibernian, have gone out of the competition this week.

But I think the experience will stand the young players in good stead, as it will the Rangers kids that played against Stevie Aitken’s side.

When you are playing against older, seasoned professionals that can only bring you on. If you are 17 or 18, you will learn from that experience.

The games are harder, they are more physical and you have got to be quicker and sharper.

That is one of the reasons that Rangers have chosen not to field a team in the Development League this year and to arrange matches with teams down south and in Europe.

The better the opposition, the more you will progress. It will have been a good learning curve for the team at Dumbarton.

I think a lot of the kids proved that they are good enough and I thought for 45 minutes they played really well. The heads went down a wee bit when they lose the second goal but they kept fighting away and when they got their goal they had a go at it at the end.

It is disappointing that they won’t get another game in the competition this season but hopefully those that played will have benefitted from it.