The young Gers fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat to the Premier League 2 side at the Rangers Training Centre, despite passing up a host of opportunities to flip the script in the second half.
Speaking to RangersTV after the match, the 20-year-old midfielder commented: “I thought it was a great game to be involved in. We’re gutted that we never walked away with the win, because it was a game which was there to be won.
“I think we had a lot more chances they did, but it just shows how clinical they are. They only had once chance in the first half, whereas we had a lot more. I could have walked away with a couple myself so I’m disappointed.
“The things that we worked on in training have been shown and we’ve taken that into the game. We played really well in both halves, probably more so in the second half, against a Premier League club.
“I think we need to finish our chances. We had so many opportunities, myself included. There’s been one where I’ve hit the post and they’ve went up the other end and almost scored. It’s something we need to tidy up on, but other than that we played really well.”
It was a strong United lineup in Glasgow, with the Light Blues controlling proceedings in the second half and carving out opportunities aplenty.
McKinnon believes the side will be better off for the experience of competing against high quality opposition as part of the Academy’s wider Best v Best games programme.
He continued: “It’s games that we want to be involved in even though it’s a 1-0 defeat. It’s a great set-up that we’re playing in and a good game to be involved in, but we’re just gutted not to come away with anything from the game.
“There were boys in the United team who have already played in the first-team and those are the players that you want to play against. It was obviously a great game and something we’d like to play in a lot more.
“It’s been good. I’ve been injured so I’ve not played the same number of games as the other boys. It’s been a really good standard, both teams, and going down to play away games it’s great facilities we’re going to. It’s something that the boys are always looking forward to.”
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