BARRIE MCKAY, the Rangers winger, is confident he can see off the arrival of more attacking players at Ibrox and retain his place in Mark Warburton’s side for the remainder of the Championship campaign.
The 21-year-old has emerged as one of the key men for Rangers this term as they have moved five points clear in the Championship and progressed to the Petrofac Training Cup final and fifth round of the Scottish Cup. McKay has scored five goals in 28 appearances for Rangers and is on the verge of agreeing a new contract to commit his future to the club.
Boss Warburton has already added midfielder Harry Forrester to his squad this month and Michael O’Halloran, the St Johnstone forward, could arrive at Ibrox in the coming days. Matt Crooks and Josh Windass of Accrington Stanley have agreed pre-contract deals and there is the prospect of even more new faces during the summer as Warburton prepares for what he hopes will be a Premiership campaign.
“It is competition and it is good in every squad,” McKay said. “It can only make me push on further to keep them out of the team and keep my jersey. It would be good whoever we bring it and it will be a quality player whoever it is that is added to the squad. It is up to the people that are here to keep them out of the team and not make it easy for them to walk into it.
“As the season has went on, I have believed in myself that much more. A lot of that is down to the manager. I have started most games this season and he has said to me that I have been playing well. I need to keep that going. He has given me the chance that maybe other managers haven’t so I just need to repay him.”
It is three-and-a-half years since McKay first burst onto the scene at Ibrox but it is only in recent months where he has begun to truly show what he is capable of and the potential that he has. The forward scored Rangers’ first goal in the Third Division against Peterhead and is now set to play a major role in helping the club back to Scotland’s top flight.
After spells out on loan at Raith Rovers and Morton in recent seasons, it was a chance many thought McKay would never get, but he is determined to cap his own recovery by completing ‘The Journey’ with the Gers.
“It is very exciting for me,” McKay, speaking as the Rangers Youth Development Company handed over another £175,000 to Rangers for use at Auchenhowie, said. “I started the journey with the club down in the bottom division and I want to take it back to the top division. I have changed a lot since that first day. I have matured on and off the pitch and I need to keep going and keep getting better
“Maybe [I worried] a wee bit [when I was out on loan], but at the same time I always had that belief in my own ability that I could come back and do a job here. The new gaffer came in and he gave me that chance. I think [the biggest difference now] is that confidence and freedom, really.
“I have got the freedom to go wherever I want and stay out as wide as I want and the confidence to be able to beat the defenders, which I was maybe a bit wary of when I was coming through.”
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