‘Hopefully he'll be a Rangers player' – Russell Martin confirms interest in EPL left-back as he eyes Jefte replacement
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RUSSELL MARTIN wants Brentford left-back Jayden Meghoma to help shore up his Rangers defence.
The Ibrox boss was unhappy with the goals conceded in the 4-2 Premier Sports Cup win over League One Alloa.
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Jayden Meghoma is a Rangers target
Credit: Alamy
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He's a player Russell Martin knows well
Credit: Alamy
And Martin has targeted 19-year-old left-back Meghoma to replace Brazilian Jefte as he gets set for a move home to Palmeiras.
He said: 'Jefte is maybe not going to be here moving forward because it's a good deal for him and the club.
'So we'll see what happens over the next couple of days with that.
'So we have to be ready to replace him, and we always have been ready.
'Jayden is a player we know from Southampton.
'He spent a year with us as a young boy, training every day, and he understands the work.
'He's a top talent who has played for England at all the youth levels.
'Brenton signed him for a lot of money for a teenager and he went on loan last year to play in the Championship, and did really well.
'So he's a player we know and like, and hopefully at some point he'll be a Rangers player.'
Martin blamed the makeshift line-up for the goals conceded, adding: 'I think I saw some really good bits and some stuff that I didn't like.
Inside Rangers-themed barbers
'But I don't think I expected anything different.
'With guys that just haven't played very much, when you make ten changes to the team, it's going to disrupt something.
'So my feeling is we get through, we score four goals, we should score more goals for sure.'
Mikey Moore made his debut along with Thelo Aasgaard off the bench.
Hamza Igamane also returned from injury - but Martin insists the striker is NOT ready to start against Brugge on Tuesday's Champions League play-off first-leg.
He added: 'I think we have to look at his physical condition. He's literally just come back and played half an hour.
'It's a very different game so I'm not sure how long we would get from him from the start.
"I really liked Hamza's energy when he came on. He can do things that other players can't.
'Sometimes he looks a bit mad.
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Hamza Igamane came off the bench against Alloa
Credit: Willie Vass
'So if we can get him to make decisions a bit more consistently, I think he'll really help us.
'I'm talking about when he tries to nutmeg the boy.
'But then his reaction to losing the ball was fantastic, so I don't mind it.
'Honestly, he wants to express himself, he wants to play. There's never a problem making a mistake as long as the reaction is really, really good.'
Alloa boss Andy Graham added: 'My overriding emotion is pride.
'We dug in at times but we also played and passed the ball under pressure.
'I'm really pleased from that perspective. You're always going to think 'what if' when you get it to 3-2 with a couple of minutes to go.
'But I'm not sitting here saying we deserved to win the game.'
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