Alnwick heaps praise on his old Ibrox mates

JAK Alnwick admitted his former Rangers colleagues were ‘unstoppable’ as they eased to a 3-0 win over St Mirren at Ibrox.

Goalkeeper Alnwick was the Paisley’s side’s top performer, keeping the scoreline down with a clutch of strong saves.

The 27-year-old Englishman moved to Saints earlier this summer after his three-year stay with Rangers came to an end.

A Conor McCarthy own goal put Steven Gerrard’s men in front during the first half, before an Alfredo Morelos double sealed an emphatic win.

‘We looked at it and asked could we catch them a little bit cold?’ said Alnwick, reflecting on Saints’ game plan. ‘But they were just unstoppable. It was wave after wave and we just couldn’t get up the pitch. They caused us a lot of problems.

‘As a goalkeeper, you come here and you expect to be busy. I expected to make a few saves. We tried to keep it at 1-0 and to steal something, but they just went on to another level.

‘They kept pushing forward and got the goals. Our lads put in a tough shift and that is all we can ask for. If we do that every week we will see where that takes us.’

Morelos claimed star billing with his first Premiership goals of 2020 and he could easily have had a hat-trick but for Alnwick.

‘I have worked with him and against him and he just comes alive,’ said the keeper. ‘He didn’t offer much early doors but then he got his chance and it is a goal.

‘He has been given a lot of credit over the last two years and linked with some big-money moves and you can see why because he is an outstanding player, his goals show that. Hopefully, Rangers can keep a hold of him.’

St Mirren complete a demanding Old Firm double header when they host Celtic on Wednesday evening.

‘We will look to see what we can do differently,’ added Alnwick. ‘Hopefully we can take something against Celtic.’

Saints manager Jim Goodwin said he was disappointed by aspects of his side’s defending but heaped praise on Alnwick.

‘He was outstanding today and he was brilliant last week against Livingston,’ said Goodwin. ‘Today he has had three or four really good saves to help keep the scoreline respectable — if 3-0 is respectable.

‘I don’t fault the effort of anyone. To come here, second game of the season, when match fitness is not what you’d like it to be is always going to be difficult physically. Our season is not defined on these games against Rangers or Celtic.’