Mckinnon promising to stay humble after Rangers chance
Rangers’ never-ending injury crisis in midfield and attack has prompted manager Philippe Clement to dig deep into his squad. As a result, young midfielder Cole Mckinnon is benefitting from exposure to the first team.
Mckinnon, 21, had not featured at all for Rangers this season until last week, when hewasgivena14-minutecameo away at Benfica and then the last 11 minutes of Sunday’s Scottish Cup win at Hibs.
For a player who scored on his debut for the club against Hearts back in 2022, he has required patience to get back in the mix. Last season was spent on loan at Partick Thistle and under previous boss Michael Beale this term, he filled the bench on a handful of occasions.
Current Rangers boss Philippe Clement is a fan of Mckinnon – “he is still a young lad but he has shown really good mentality and workrate in training and he has been growing on the ball month by month” – and the player is glad the Belgian has shown trust in him.
“I feel a lot better working under him and he is making me a better player in lots of different ways,” said Mckinnon. “I am thankful that he has obviously given me those opportunities. It is down to bad reasons, a couple of injuries but you need to take your opportunities when they come.”
Mckinnon says he will do whatever Clement asks of him. “I need to step up now,” he said. “It doesn't matter where on the park it is, if I need to fill in in goals I will. I will play wherever I am needed. So hopefully I can keep on taking my chances if they come and be humble about it. I am not getting too far ahead of myself. It is only two appearances so I need to keep working hard in training.”
The Cambuslang-born Rangers academy graduate could be forgiven for having a pinch-yourself moment when he graced the same turf as Angel di Maria and Co at the Estadio da Luz during Rangers’ 2-2 first-leg draw at Benfica.
“It was quite weird to be on the same pitch as them,” Mckinnon said of sharing a pitch with World Cup winners. “You need to go in there and play, you can't be too star struck about it all.”