Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha could be set to hand youngster Ross McCrorie his senior debut in their upcoming Europa League clash on Thursday.
The Portuguese has confirmed that the 19-year-old would be part of his Rangers squad to face Luxembourg outfit Progres Niederkorn in the Europa League first-qualifying round first-leg at Ibrox.
He said, as quoted by the club’s official Twitter account: “We have Ross McCrorie with us and he has done very well and was fantastic at the Toulon Tournament. He will be one of our five centre-backs.”
PC: "We have Ross McCrorie with us and he has done very well and was fantastic at the Toulon Tournament. He will be one of our 5 CBs."
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) June 28, 2017
The highly-rated teenage defender has yet to make an appearance within the first-team setup for the Scottish giants, while he has also been restricted to just two appearances for the Under-20’s side.
Instead, McCrorie has been handed more regular opportunities on loan at Scottish lower league duo Ayr United and Dumbarton during the past 12 months, as well as impressing on the international stage.
The centre-back played a key role as Scotland’s Under-20 side finished third at the Toulon Tournament, which concluded earlier this month, and Caixinha could be set to reward him for his fantastic summer.
Caixinha revealed that he has five centre-backs at his disposal for their upcoming first-leg tie, but the exact identity of the other four players in contention for a starting role has not been officially confirmed.
BBC Sport claim that Rob Kiernan was not named on the list of players submitted to UEFA, meaning he will be unavailable for the tie, but there is a place for new signings Bruno Alves and Fabio Cardoso.
That could potentially leave places available for twof of Lee Hodson, Danny Wilson, David Bates and Aidan Wilson.