McCRORIE BELIEVES HE’S AT TOP OF HIS GAME
RANGERS midfielder Ross McCrorie believes he has progressed so far this season that he is now ‘ten times the player’ he was. And he intends to use Scotland Under-21s’ encounter with Mexico today to gain some much-needed game time after being surprisingly ignored by Rangers recently. Scotland face Mexico this afternoon in Marbella as part of Scot Gemmill’s new-look squad, with their Euro qualifiers starting later this year. Midfielder McCrorie will be handed the captain’s armband for the clash and is delighted to be back playing after being left out by Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard recently. McCrorie boasts an impressive record for Rangers this season — he has made 24 appearances and has been on the losing side just once, in a 1-0 Europa League defeat in Austria to Rapid Vienna. Since then, he was hugely instrumental in displays against Celtic in the Old Firm success on December 29 and Aberdeen in a 4-2 win. Curiously, though, McCrorie has seen his opportunities limited since the arrival of Glen Kamara and hasn’t featured at all since the end of February — a decision which has baffled Rangers supporters. And while McCrorie was reluctant to discuss his recent disappearance from Gerrard’s squad, he made it clear he believes he is playing at the top of his game. ‘That’s part and parcel of football,’ he said. ‘I trust the manager and we’ll see what happens. ‘I feel like I’m ten times the player I was and I think I’m developing really well. I believe I’m a far better player than I was last season and at the start of the season, especially with the run I went on playing a lot of games. ‘I’ve improved massively. I feel more natural in midfield, a more rounded player. I’ve improved near enough every aspect of my game partly because of playing and because I’ve been putting the extra stuff in at training. ‘I’ve been doing the wee extra bits with coaches and in the gym. I’ve been brought up to always work hard. ‘We’ll talk about movement but it’s mostly down to watching clips. ‘Coming here with Scotland, I’m getting experience, playing against really talented players. It’s all going to make me a better player.’ McCrorie is proud of his record of being something of a lucky charm with the Ibrox club this season but he stressed it’s more to do with hard work. ‘I think that’s just part of my mentality. I don’t want to lose anything, even coming away with Scotland,’ he added. ‘I don’t want to lose games in training, a tackle or a 50-50 or making that pass. I just want to be a winner.’ Scotland face a difficult task today against a Mexican team that is mostly made up of their Olympic qualifying squad. But Gemmill reckons the experience of playing against another non-European nation — Scotland have played the likes of Brazil, Togo, South Korea and Indonesia in the Toulon Tournament recently — will do his players a power of good. ‘We can give the best young players in the country an experience they wouldn’t usually get,’ said Gemmill. ‘It’s a great experience for them as part of their learning.’ Gemmill, who will be missing Aberdeen’s Lewis Ferguson with a thigh strain, is pleased with the amount of first-team performers he has at his disposal. ‘We set the bar high on and off the pitch,’ added the head coach. ‘They need to show they are extra special.’