ROSS MCCRORIE hopes he made a positive impression on Pedro Caixinha after being handed his first start for Rangers against The New Saints.

The defender partnered summer signing Fabio Cardoso for the opening 45 minutes of the friendly fixture at Auchenhowie on Monday.

And McCrorie was delighted to be involved as he looks to force his way into Caixinha’s squad for the new campaign.

He said: “It was good to get in around the first team boys again for pre-season, and get a start too. I’m delighted with that, and while I’m disappointed with the end result, with the 45 minutes I played, it was great to get the legs going again.

“It feels good and while I only had the week off for summer, I’m more than happy to come in and get started straight away for pre-season, and getting the game time really helps.”

McCrorie spent the second half of the campaign on loan at Dumbarton last term and then represented Scotland at the Toulon Tournament in France.

The 19-year-old missed the third-place play-off with the Czech Republic after suffering a head knock in the semi-final against England.

McCrorie returned to action against Coleraine last week and said: “You have to abide by the rules when you have a concussion injury, so it was a week before I could train.

“The Coleraine game came a week after and the manager spoke to me the day before to ask if I was OK to go straight into the game. That was perfect for me and I got 45 minutes in that game too.”

Rangers were held to a 1-1 draw by TNS as they stepped up their preparations for their Europa League campaign.

The Gers face Progres Niederkorn in the first qualifying round next Thursday and McCrorie told RangersTV: “Hopefully I can keep impressing the manager and get into his plans and then see what happens from there. It’s a good draw for us and we’ll be looking forward to it.”