'Masterclass' - Tottenham teenager hailed as the answer to team's creative problems

Tottenham have plenty of players out and about across the game on loan and one of them has been grabbing rave reviews up in Scotland

Tottenham youngster Mikey Moore has been hailed as the answer to Rangers' attacking woes after a 'masterclass' of a performance in the demolition of 10-man Kilmarnock.

The 18-year-old has found his feet in Scotland after a tough start under former manager Russell Martin, flourishing under the tutelage of his successor Danny Rohl. The teenager has racked up 32 appearances so far in a busy season with four goals and three assists in his first senior loan out of Spurs with 1,637 minutes to his name around a mid-season injury.

Moore scored in the Old Firm Derby last month and produced one of his best displays yet in a Rangers shirt in Wednesday night's 5-1 win at Ibrox against Kilmarnock with one goal, one assist and five chances created for his team-mates with 61 touches of the ball, most of them coming as he ran down or inside off the left flank.

football.london understands Tottenham made the decision in the winter window to leave Moore at Rangers where is getting plenty of game time, often in front of 50,000 supporters with the pressure that comes with playing for the Glasgow giants as part of a longer term view.

While Thomas Frank's injury-hit squad are lacking in attacking players right now, the teenager's development has leapt forward while on the loan and there is a belief inside Spurs that the long-term benefits of him remaining at Rangers for the season would outweigh him coming back now for less guaranteed minutes, similar to centre-back Luka Vuskovic's big development season at Hamburg.

On Wednesday night it was Moore's clever ball in-between defenders just three minutes in to the path of Djeidi Gassama which led to a penalty and early red card for Dominic Thompson and a goal from the spot for Rangers captain James Tavernier. Moore was a constant menace for the visitors' defence and grabbed an assist in the second half with a big part in the move and final calm pass for Andreas Skov Olsen's first goal for the Glasgow side.

He then played a key part with his movement and poked ball into the box in the build-up to Oliver Antman's goal. Moore then put the finishing touch on the result with a move he began with a jinking run and pass to Antman, who returned the favour and the Spurs teenager hit a low left-footed shot into bottom right corner of the net.

Former Ibrox forward and BBC Scotland pundit Steven Naismith said of the Tottenham winger: "He's been the best player on the pitch. [The goal] is what he deserves. He's so direct, he's confident, he's going at [the Kilmarnock defence] and he's enjoying himself out there."

Another ex-Rangers forward Rory Loy called Moore's movement as "nothing short of sensational" and added: "Two or three passes before he gets the ball, defenders don't know where he is. It's been a masterclass in how to receive the ball in tight areas. He can go both ways, which keeps defenders guessing."

Moore's performance came after a bright cameo from the bench in the 0-0 draw at Hibernian at the weekend, with another on loan Spurs academy product Dane Scarlett making his debut late on for the hosts. Moore had seen a likely winner ruled out for offside by VAR while Scarlett went on to grab an assist for Hibernian in his first start on Wednesday night in the 3-2 win against Dundee United.

Rangers fans, after being underwhelmed by teenager during Martin's tenure, are now questioning why Moore is not starting every game - he has only started 13 in the Scottish Premiership - and many pundits have hailed him as the answer to the side's issues in scoring more goals from open play as they look to chase down leaders Hearts.

Rohl said after the game of the Tottenham man: "We know Mikey, that should be the level for him again and again. This is the next step for him, consistency, but I will not speak about individual performances, it's about the team."

Moore admitted at the weekend that he is waiting to see what comes next for him in his playing career after speaking to staff back at Spurs amid hopes in Glasgow that he might stick around longer in the Scottish city.

"There's been nothing decided so far. I've spoken to people back home but they're saying focus on the rest of the season and then when the summer comes, we'll assess and see what happens next year," he said.

"I want to play in the Champions League, it's a massive competition but it's difficult because I need to discuss it with everyone else back home. It's a collective decision. I love playing here but we'll see what happens in the summer."

He added: "To be honest, I think we needed the new signings as a team. It's hard, you don't want to get too comfortable so for me personally, I think I need to reflect on myself over the past two or three weeks and know that I've got higher standards than what I've hit personally.

"We've been doing really well but personally now I need to push on and now I've got to fight for my place in the team and become that person who you know is going to be playing week after week. Have I been tired lately? It's hard to put something on it. I think I just need to push myself.

"My mentality needs to be that I'm going to go into every game and try and play as well as possible. So for me, the last two weeks I don't think I've been bad but I think I've been better than what I've been.

"But there's going to be a lot of games where we're going to need someone to come up with a bit of magic and for me with my end product. I need to reflect on it truthfully and it's not been at its best so far. But I know that I've got big moments in me so now the big games are coming up, I think I can really push on and start showing that with my numbers."

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