Aiden McCallion Reflects On A Whirlwind 24 Hours

IT was a whirlwind couple of days for Aiden McCallion recently.

From captaining Rangers’ Under-19s side to title success on Friday afternoon, he was then handed his first-team debut by Danny Röhl in the final day victory at Falkirk on Saturday, appearing for the final 10 minutes of the contest.

Speaking upon his recent experiences, the youngster is taking it all in his stride as he hopes for more opportunities to come, he said: “It was probably a dream 24 hours.

“Lifting the league in the last minute when we scored and obviously captaining the boys to a league title was a real big thing for us this year, and then moving on, it is a dream for me to play with Rangers.

“When did I know I’d be involved? I found out straight after my game on Friday, we were celebrating, and then David McCallum told me I would be in the squad.

“I was then just kind of hoping I would get my chance.

“Being in the manager's plans? That is probably what all the young boys are hoping for, all the 19s.

“Try and get yourself in there at pre-season and just work as hard as you can and try to impress.

“We all have the belief, quite a few of us are around there training often, so that definitely gave us a wee bit of belief that you can go and do it.”

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160526 Falkirk v Rangers, Aiden McCallion 52

The teenager reflected on the title-winning achievement as they pipped Hibs to the trophy with a 2-1 success away at St Mirren, courtesy of a last-gasp free kick from winger Zebedee Lawson, who grabbed a brace on the day in dramatic style.

He continued: “We are buzzing, Zeb has come up with two bits of magic at the end to win it for us, the celebrations probably said it all and how we were all feeling.

“It is a great achievement for us all.

“Beating Celtic, then we beat Dundee United away, then it was all on the last one in our hands to go and win it.

“Obviously, we have managed to show up on the day and win it, so it is really good for all of us.

“I am buzzing, obviously, John Brown was there handing it out.

“He came in and spoke to us before the game; that was an inspiration for us all. I knew I was going to be captain, so I wanted to come and win the trophy, and we have done that throughout the league and have played well.”

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150526 St Mirren U19 v Rangers U19, Team Celebration 14

The midfielder spoke about his development over the past 12 months, having been involved in first-team squads around this time last year, through dealing with an injury lay-off, he has been grateful for the opportunities that have arrived and expressed his excitement for what’s to come.

He added: “I had a lot of good experience last year; I was in and about the team when Barry Ferguson was the manager.

“Obviously, learning off all the pros in the changing room, seeing how they train and how they go about their stuff.

“The injury was a different kind of challenge, but I dealt with that, and I am just happy to be back now playing.

“How much have I developed? A lot, it is obviously good for the kind of mental side of it.

“That is what it is like with the first-team, you need to win every game, and you want to try and win the league.

“Youth League? We knew that before, if you win the league, you are in the qualifying stages for that, so it is a good thing to look forward to for all of us next year.”

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