SCOT Gemmill isn't surprised to see Rangers going into the Premiership play-offs with their striking hopes resting on the slender young shoulders of Ryan Hardie.

He is just amazed the teenager didn't get the call earlier.

The 18-year-old proved his worth as the Scotland Under-17 side reached the semi-finals of last year's European Championship, and as this year's crop prepare to travel out to Bulgaria for the latest finals, Gemmill sees no reason why he can't handle the pressure of attempting to fire the Ibrox side into the top flight.

"If I'm being honest I am surprised he hasn't been playing sooner," said the former Everton, Nottingham Forest and Scotland midfielder. "I haven't seen a lot of Rangers' games recently but I am just going on what I know about Hardie.

"He scores goals, it is as simple as that. It is the same for every goalscorer, you do need service. But I am the same as everyone - I would like to see him play at the highest level with the best players to see what he can do. Until you put them in that situation, I don't care how experienced you are, you don't quite know how they will react, on and off the pitch. But when you put good young players in with better senior players, normally it ends in good results. He is naturally getting quicker, stronger, more experienced and he has the knack to score goals. So it sounds like a good mixture to me."

Not that the teenager was beyond criticism. Indeed, perhaps the greatest asset any young player can have is the ability to take negative comments in the correct manner.

"I can remember speaking to him, and criticising him, in a team meeting in Romania because we conceded a goal and I thought Ryan could have done more defensively when we didn't have the ball," Gemmill said. "That is a common criticism of mine to youth team players - I don't think they participate enough and contribute enough when their team don't have the ball.

"I think Hardie does that better now. In the finals last year he did it better. It is something they have to put right. You can draw it to their attention and they either do it or they don't. I was trying to help him get better and credit to him I think he has done that."

Last year's team, who beat Germany in the group prior to crashing out to the Netherlands in the semis, have set a high bar. Hardie, and Dundee's Craig Wighton, have moved on, leaving just Calvin Miller of Celtic and Rangers goalkeeper Robby McCrorie as veterans of the previous squad. McCrorie, who made a couple of unfortunate mistakes in the Glasgow Cup final defeat, is joined by his twin brother, Ross, while much is hoped for from the likes of Celtic duo Mark Hill and Regan Hendry in midfield, and Aberdeen left-back Daniel Harvie. The dangerous French, Greece and Russia are Scotland's group opponents in an expanded tournament, with the top six teams progressing through to next year's World Cup in Chile, but Gemmill is happy with this year's recruits.

"In terms of having that resilience, determination and ability, they have definitely got it. In terms of quality, they are very similar. We're going to find out! But in terms of the development of the players, it is just absolute gold for them to go to play against the best players and experience playing at a finals."

Gemmill is at home working with the best young players this country has to offer, but one blow to the SFA's plans at youth level was the recent decision of the English FA to withdraw from the Victory Shield tournament between the home nations at Under-16 level. They feel their young sides should face top-end, global opposition at that age, and their departure causes the SFA a headache.

"I was surprised like everybody," said Gemmill. "It has obviously been a really big part of young players' development. It doesn't matter what age it is, Scotland versus England is the game that everyone wants to see and play in. It's a shame but they have made their decision. It's gone now and I don't think it will come back but it's important that it's replaced with something else."

While another run would be pleasing, just reaching a second successive European Championship finals at this level shows Scotland are moving in the right direction. So what is the secret?

Gemmill thinks back to his studies for his Pro Licence and uses a typically withering contribution from Archie Knox to an in-depth tactical and technical plan from Andy Roxburgh to illustrate the point.

"See all that Andy'?" Knox is reported to have said. "If you haven't got the players, you are f****d."