McInnes wants to keep James Penrice after Hampden assist in Premier Sports Cup semi
James Penrice set up the only goal as Rangers beat Aberdeen in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final at Hampden on Saturday, and manager Derek McInnes said he is keen to keep the left-back at Rangers.
It has been a strong few days for Penrice, who received his first Scotland call-up following his first senior semi-final victory. Penrice had joined on loan from AEK Athens and, a day after signing, produced a player-of-the-match display in his first outing of the season by scoring and assisting in a 5-1 win over St Mirren. That result was Rangers' first victory of the campaign after Europa League elimination and coming on the back of one point from their opening two Scottish Premiership matches.
At Hampden on Saturday, Penrice’s low shot was turned home by Ryan Naderi to settle the tie, a result that extended Rangers’ unbeaten run in domestic competition to 12 matches. McInnes’ side now head into December’s League Cup final against Hibernian aiming for their first silverware since 2023.
Penrice moved to AEK Athens after one standout year with Heart of Midlothian, with AEK paying £2m in July 2025. In Greece he made 32 appearances for the title-winning side, 16 of them starts, and alternated in the left-back role with Albania international Stavros Pilios.
The loan to Rangers includes an option to buy and, according to reports from Athens, AEK would like to renegotiate the arrangement. Other reports suggested the fee agreed over the summer was a combined £1.2m.
On the possibility of a permanent move, McInnes said: "I've made my feelings clear on it," and added, "Ideally, we'd like to have done it on a permanent, but the best way forward at the time was a loan. "I think we are all aware of what it needs to be to make it permanent, but I think there is a lot of goodwill all round and that is something we would like to do." He also praised Penrice’s recent contribution: "What he's done since the first minute is just play with so much enthusiasm," and "He brings quality and energy. The fans take to him because of how he performs and how much he wants to win. "He's a player that I trust and the supporters trust, so hopefully we can make it a longer-term thing."
McInnes also deployed Penrice in midfield for the League Cup meeting with Celtic at Ibrox, a move that coincided with a 3-0 home win in which Penrice helped blunt the threat of Benjamin Nygren and provided attacking width in transition. The same starting XI then recorded a 1-0 victory at Celtic Park a week later.
Penrice said of his Scotland selection: "I didn't ever think going through the early part of my career, I would ever be called up." McInnes called the call-up deserved, saying: "James deserves it and hopefully he can get on the pitch and come back with a couple of caps," while Scotland head coach Sebastien Pocognoli described the selection as "logical". Penrice has been named in the Scotland squad for this month's Nations League double-header against North Macedonia and Switzerland.
