McKay eager to dance to Pedro’s tune
BARRIE McKAY insists he is happy to meet the new demands placed on him by Pedro Caixinha as he targets a starting role in Sunday’s Old Firm semi-final.
The Rangers winger is approaching a potential career crossroads at Ibrox having turned down an initial contract extension offer last month.
His existing deal expires at the end of next season and Caixinha, while warmly praising his technical qualities, has been public in his desire to see McKay add more aggression and drive to his game.
The 22-year-old was left on the bench for the recent win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie and then substituted at halftime during last weekend’s success against Partick Thistle.
A hero of the semi-final victory over Celtic 12 months ago, McKay is keen to adapt to Caixinha’s expectations.
‘The manager has asked a little bit different of me, he has asked me to run in behind a lot more rather than always coming to get the ball at feet,’ he told Rangers TV.
‘I think it has been good for me; it is stuff I need to add to my game, so I need to take on board what he’s saying and get on with it.
‘Since he has come in, I have probably had a few one-on-one conversations with him and they’ve been pretty positive.
‘He has done that with a few of the other boys as well and I think the boys have felt the positivity from it.
‘I think every manager is different in what they need and the way they want to play.
‘When he first came in, he took us all and said: “Look, this is what I want to happen and this is how I want to play”, then he went through us individually and said what he wanted from us.’
McKay (below) netted a spectacular long-range strike as the last Scottish Cup meeting between the sides ended 2-2 before Rangers prevailed on penalties.
That result sealed the demise of Ronny Deila at Celtic and heightened hope of a genuine title challenge from an Ibrox side under Mark Warburton’s command.
Fast forward to the present day and Warburton has exited with Rangers sitting third in the Premiership, a massive 33 points adrift of their unbeaten rivals.
McKay admits attempting to halt the Treble push of a Brendan Rodgers-led Celtic will be an entirely different task to the one that faced his side last April. He is, however, optimistic of defying the odds after a 1-1 draw at Parkhead last month ended a sequence of three successive Old Firm defeats. ‘They are a much better team than they showed last year and they’ve done well this season,’ added McKay. ‘We have stepped up, too, this season and, although some results haven’t gone our way, I think we are a good team. We are capable of beating them and it’s up to us on the day. ‘Going into last year’s game, people were talking about seven or eight-nil so to go and beat them — and in the style which we did it as well — I think was really good for us. ‘We took a lot of confidence from that and then I think this year has been the same. People have been saying it would be all sorts of scorelines especially after the first game (a 5-1 defeat at Celtic Park last September). ‘In the games after that, it was going to be cricket scores and I think we shut up a few of the critics with a couple of performances. ‘This is a cup game, anything can happen. You get upsets in the cup and I think me and the boys are confident going into the game.’ Caixinha, meanwhile, insists he is not being caught up in any hype about ruining Celtic’s perfect season, placing his focus instead on moving Rangers closer to a first major prize since 2011. Asked if he was looking forward to his first Old Firm experience as Rangers manager, he said: ‘Not that much regarding to the Old Firm, I’m more looking forward to winning one major trophy with this club and, if possible, on May 27, that’s what I’m looking for. ‘For that to be possible, you need to pass through this obstacle. It’s the last opponent between you and the final and you need to think like that. ‘We are thinking about having one more trophy for the club, I’m not thinking about the opponent.’