Barrie McKay Ready for the Rangers challenge and to help Ibrox kids on road to first team glory

The motto that has been used for decades is as apt and appropriate here and now as it ever has been as Rangers continue on the road to recovery with a new ethos and style and a new direction on and off the park.

The blue print laid out by boss Mark Warburton has paid dividends so far as his side have moved five points clear in the Championship and progressed to the Petrofac Training Cup final and fifth round of the Scottish Cup.

In many ways, McKay sums up the Warburton way. He is young, quick, skilful and, after suffering a knock or two along the way, is grabbing the chance he has always dreamed of.

At 21, McKay has a bright future ahead of him at Ibrox and in the game as he has made the transition from Murray Park prospect to Rangers first team star.

In an interview with SportTimes last week, Gers Under-17 boss Billy Kirkwood urged the next crop of Light Blue kids to follow McKay’s lead as they set their sights on an Ibrox breakthrough.

The winger was on hand as the Rangers Youth Development Company handed over another £175,000 to Rangers for use at Auchenhowie and hopes he can be an inspiration to a generation of up-and-coming stars.

McKay said: “It (youth development) is a big factor at every club. If you have young players coming through you don’t need to go out and get other players. They need to be ready for the challenge.

“I would like to think of myself as a role model for the younger ones. I have been out on loan and I have come back and I am a better player for doing that.

“You need to be able to play in front of the crowds here. They expect so much of you to go out there and perform and you need to do it week in week out.

“It is just the way football is, or you lose your jersey.

“It (the crowds) is something that has never really bothered me. As I came through as a young boy, I was never really fazed by the crowds so that has probably helped me.

“I have come back again, I am quite chilled out and I don’t let stuff get to me.”

It is three-and-a-half years since McKay first burst onto the scene at Ibrox but it is only in recent months where he has begun to truly show what he is capable of and the potential that he has.

The forward scored Rangers’ first goal in the Third Division against Peterhead and is now set to play a major role in helping the club back to Scotland’s top flight.

After spells out on loan at Raith Rovers and Morton in recent seasons, it was a chance many thought McKay would never get, but he is determined to cap his own recovery by completing The Journey with the Gers.

McKay said: “It is very exciting for me. I started the journey with the club down in the bottom division and I want to take it back to the top division.

“I have changed a lot since that first day. I have matured on and off the pitch and I need to keep going and keep getting better

“Maybe [I worried] a wee bit [when I was out on loan], but at the same time I always had that belief in my own ability that I could come back and do a job here. The new gaffer came in and he gave me that chance.

“I think [the biggest difference now] is that confidence and freedom, really.

“I have got the freedom to go wherever I want and stay out as wide as I want and the confidence to be able to beat the defenders, which I was maybe a bit wary of when I was coming through.”

Having risen to the challenge and become a key part of Warburton’s squad this season, McKay could soon have to pass a few more tests if he is to retain his Gers jersey.

The arrival of Harry Forrester, a potential move for Michael O’Halloran and the prospect of more signings in the summer mean Warburton will have plenty of options in his Ibrox attack.

But McKay is confident he can see off anyone who is eyeing his starting spot and continue to repay his manager for giving him a chance to shine this season.

“It is competition and it is good in every squad,” he said.

“It can only make me push on further to keep them out of the team and keep my jersey.

“It would be good whoever we bring it and it will be a quality player whoever it is that is added to the squad.

“It is up to the people that are here to keep them out of the team and not make it easy for them to walk into it.

“As the season has went on, I have believed in myself that much more.

“A lot of that is down to the manager. I have started most games this season and he has said to me that I have been playing well.

“I need to keep that going. He has given me the chance that maybe other managers haven’t so I just need to repay him.”

While McKay can look forward to the second half of the season at Ibrox, several of his Gers peers have had to broaden their horizons in search of first team football.

The likes of Liam Kelly, Luca Gasparotto, Andy Murdoch and Tom Walsh have all left the Light Blues on loan deals this term to continue their progression elsewhere.

But McKay has urged them not to give up on their Ibrox ambitions as they look to follow his route from loan Ranger to first team star.

McKay said: “The young boys that have went out on loan, I have told them it is a good idea and that they need to go out and get the games that they are not getting here. It can work.

“It is a big experience going out on loan and you see that different side of football.

“It is good to get out and see that and see the way that teams train differently. You want to go out and do well and get games.”