Rangers crashed to a harsh 2-0 defeat against Steve Cotterill’s Burnley on a chilly night at Turf Moor. The Clarets had the luxury of being able to field an almost full strength side; Olly had the slightly dubious honour of handing no less than four players their debuts and another, his first start.

Following the Leeds game at the weekend Olly lost another host of players through injury and suspension. Day remained in goal behind a back four of Bignot, Kanyuka, Shittu and Padula. The odd looking midfield four was Cureton, Bircham, Edghill and Cook. Baidoo was drafted into the attack to partner Gallen. To say the bench was inexperienced would be an understatement! Not one of Cole, Hamilton, Johnson, Mulholland or Townsend had kicked a ball in anger for the first team.

It was clear to see that this was going to be a long evening as Burnley started to boss the midfield from the off. O’Connor and Hyde were getting the better of Bircham and Edghill, although this was largely down to poor positioning from an out of position full back! O’Connor played a ball through for panto villain Akinbyi and he was denied by a Bignot challenge. Hyde then crashed a superb twenty five yarder at goal that Day did well to turn past the post.

Rangers were relying on hitting Burnley on the break and utilising the searing pace of Baidoo. Cahill and McGreal were clearly struggling to handle his movement and this was allowing Gallen, Cook and Bircham to get some time on the ball in forward areas. Baidoo had Rangers first effort of any note when his weak shot from the edge of the box was easily tidied up by Jensen.

Gallen went close with a quickly taken free kick much to Akinbyi’s annoyance before at the other end on loan Ipswich man Dean Bowditch fired into the crowd. Having been impressed with Bowditch when I have seen him on Sky for Ipswich I was amazed at how little he contributed to his team.

Bircham almost gave Rangers the lead just before the half hour mark when he crashed a stinging left footed volley at goal. Jensen was beaten all ends up but the ball flew just past the post and bounced off the stanchion. Shortly after Baidoo was forced from the action after what later turned out to be a knee up the jacksie! Lewis Hamilton made his debut as a sub and slotted in on the right of midfield with Cureton moving to partner Gallen.

Hamilton was looking all at sea. At one point Burnley forced a corner and he was dawdling about near the halfway line with Daisy screaming at him to get back in. He finally did but by that time Olly had seen enough and he would not reappear after the break.

Big Pat Kanyuka was having a stormer to this point. After a hesitant first ten minutes he was really starting to find his feet, cruising about mopping up the loose ball and winning more than his fair share in the air. Akinbyi is a handful and along with Graham Branch who is superb in the air, he and Dan had a game on their hands.

Cureton wasted a freekick in a good position after a foul on Bircham before Burnley finally took the lead two minutes before the break. It was the aforementioned Branch and Akinbyi that combined to make the goal. A long diagonal ball found the head of Branch who had managed to get above Bignot, his header back across the box cut out Kanyuka and Day and Akinbyi managed to get the run on Shittu to nod home from six yards. It was almost identical to the goal he scored against Brighton at the weekend.

Luke Townsend replaced Lewis Hamilton at the break to become the third Rangers player to make his first team debut. He joined Gallen up front with Cureton switching back to the right of midfield. He settled to his task immediately, using the ball intelligently and showing good movement.

Chances were few and far between as defences started to dominate. It was nigh on impossible for either team to carve out a clear cut opportunity and long range efforts were all either side could muster. Bowditch shot over the top for the second time in the game before Bircham came perilously close to equalising.

Burnley conceded yet another freekick on the edge of the area and this time Bircham decided he would take it. He sent a low effort under the wall and almost into the net before Jensen made the latest of interventions to drop his forearm onto the ball. It was certainly more luck than judgement that it stayed out.

With twenty minutes left Rangers run of rotten luck continued as Bircham went down injured. Normally it is hard to tell whether Birch is really hurt as he does hug the turf a little too often but this time you could see he was serious. A stretcher was sent for and he was taken down the tunnel to a rousing ovation from the R’s fans. Scot Mulholland replaced him and became the fourth debut of the evening. He slotted in on the right of midfield, Gallen moved to central midfield and Cureton went up top to partner Townsend.

Mo Camara clipped the post with a long range freekick before Rangers went up the other end and missed a fabulous opportunity to level the scores. Jamie Cureton was played though on the edge of the box and managed to force his way past McGreal. He only had the keeper to beat but he dwelled on the ball and allowed a combination of Camara and Jensen to block him out. He could have shot, he could have squared it to an unmarked Cook but he did neither and this has been indicative of his season to date. I for one will not be shedding any tears when he inevitably leaves at the end of the season, he promised so much and has delivered bugger all.

As if to compound the misery Burnley wrapped things up just minutes later when Akinbyi bagged his second. The impressive Camara burst down the right and his pace carried him away from Kanyuka and Edghill (who had by this point swapped places with Bignot). He squared the ball and once again Akinbyi had pulled away from Shittu and was unmarked to slam the ball into the roof of the net, although he probably didn’t mean to!

The game ended 2-0 and this was harsh on Rangers. I have no doubt that had we been able to field anything like a full strength side then we would have beaten what was a fairly dour Burnley side. The kids that came in did well, bar Hamilton unfortunately, it is a shame that Mulholland and Townsend are both to be released. Townsend in particular played very well and may have just put a thought in the back of Olly’s mind.

Baidoo did well before he was injured but Kanyuka was simply outstanding. It warms your heart to see kids you have seen play so well in the youth team make the step up to this level. Big Pat is going to be a really decent player and I hope he gets a chance to test himself against Wigan on Saturday.

It was a shame that some of his more experienced colleagues couldn’t match either his ability or enthusiasm. Edghill and Cureton were both shocking and they will surely be out the door in a couple of weeks. Gino looked good again and I would like to see him get another year, I don’t think he will though.

simon@qprnet.com