Rangers defender George Edmundson was handed a baptism of fire by manager Steven Gerrard, but ‘the fridge’ as he has become affectionately known put in an excellent performance in the 1-0 second leg victory against Braga last night.
The 22-year-old was drafted into the starting line up after Nikola Katic was dropped following his poor display against St Johnstone, and the young English centre-back was more than up for the challenge.
Supporters on Twitter were quick to praise Edmundson after the game:
Unbelievable talent.
— AG RFC (@AGRFC85) 26 February 2020
Man of the match
— gary Morrison (@garyMor50362516) 26 February 2020
The fridge what a performance
— True Blues Loyal®️™️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@TrueBluesLoyal) 26 February 2020
— Fayez Akram (@Fayezakram10) 26 February 2020
Well done fella, top performance tonight
— Bill Struth Stand (@Maccus74) 26 February 2020
G- unit!
— ALD0 (@a22an) 26 February 2020
In awe at the size of this lad. Absolute unit.
— Alan M. (@Bluemaxx_uk) 26 February 2020
Solid tonight ?
— PaulHallyburton (@ha11y6) 26 February 2020
Superb tonight big man ?
— Robbie Heron (@robbieheron99) 26 February 2020
What makes his display even more special is the fact that he has only played two European games in his career before last night, with both coming in the first and second qualifying rounds all the way back in July.
Edmundson was an unused substitute on three occasions during the group stages while he didn’t even make the matchday squad for the 2-1 defeat to Young Boys and the 1-1 draw against Porto.