Success with Scots can boost Middleton’s Ibrox ambition
GLENN MIDDLETON aims to prove he can have a future at Rangers by helping Scotland Under-21s emulate the senior national side and end their long absence from the Euros.
Scot Gemmill’s youngsters travel to Greece on Tuesday for their last match in the qualifiers, desperate to emulate Steve Clarke’s squad by making it through to the finals. In the Under-21s’ case, their hiatus has stretched to 25 years.
It’s a golden opportunity to make history and give the nation another huge boost, with the tournamend to be held in Hungary and Slovenia next March.
Middleton hasn’t featured for Rangers since April last year and has had loan spells at Hibernian and Bradford City, but Gemmill has always kept faith with the speedy winger and was rewarded on Thursday when Middleton came off the bench to score as the young Scots fought back from two goals down at Tynecastle to snatch a crucial 2-2 draw against Croatia.
That sets them up perfectly for the final game in Athens and Middleton admits playing for the Under-21s has helped him focus after not featuring for Steven Gerrard’s side this season.
He said: ‘It was great to come on and do well as the message is always clear when you don’t start.
‘You need to have it inside you to know it’s a team game, so you need to try and get on the pitch and make an impact.
‘Thankfully that’s what happened for me. There doesn’t need to much of a message from the manager before you go on, you know within yourself that you have a point to prove, and that’s true for me.
‘It’s not been easy at all. It’s about doing the right things every day, whether that’s at Rangers or away with Scotland.
‘It’s up to me. I need to work hard every day and then I’ll make my own luck. When I get a chance, I need to show what I’m capable of and then hopefully catch the eye.
‘The squad at Rangers is at a very high level and people realise it’s not going to be easy to get into the starting XI. The competition for places is very strong but you can’t fail to learn at Rangers.
‘You pick up so much by being in and around the changing room. That is only going to help me in the long term and I need to put all of it together.’
The 20-year-old, who still has two-and-a-half years of his deal at Rangers left to run, insists that the Scottish kids can also make history this week.
He added: ‘We know we have to win, it’s as simple as that. Every time we turn up for Scotland, the coaches have a game plan for us to follow. That will be the case again for Tuesday.
‘As a team, we have an identity. That’s everyone down to a tee, we carry that out every day in training and in every game.’