Rangers breezed to a comfortable 6-1 victory over Lokomotiv Tashkent in Dubai as rising star Nathan Patterson was handed a chance to impress from the start.

The result matters little but Steven Gerrard will have been left buoyed by his side's sharpness during the friendly clash with the Uzbekistani side.

Jermain Defoe, Sheyi Ojo, Steven Davis, James Tavernier and Greg Stewart were all on the scoresheet as Gerrard handed 24 players game time as he swapped sides at the break in the searing UAE heat.

The English pair netted before the break but the best moment of the match was Davis' fizzer from the edge of the box that had the Ibrox bench on their feet. James Tavernier then nodded home to make it 4-0 before Stewart got in on the act.

The former Aberdeen man made no mistake from the spot as he fired home after Jordan Jones, who had previously been booked for diving, was upended inside the box before Stewart added a sixth in the dying seconds

The exhibition clash allowed Gerrard and his Rangers players the chance to regain their match sharpness in their first encounter in 13 days since their 2-1 win over Celtic.

Tavernier and Ryan Kent, both on at the break, were handed an early breather as the pair replaced by youngsters Kai Kennedy and James Maxwell for the final 15 minutes, moments before Tashkent pulled one back.

Rangers are back in competitive action next weekend when they face Stranraer on Friday night in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.