ROSS McCAUSLAND says he’ll be better for the experience of his first campaign in senior football as he gears up for the beginning of the new season.
The Northern Irishman made the breakthrough to the first-team from the Rangers Academy midway through last season and helped Philippe Clement’s side reach the UEFA Europa League group stages alongside success in the League Cup in December.
It was a whirlwind debut campaign at first-team level for the 21-year-old as he also became a fully-fledged Northern Ireland international, and he now hopes to showcase his development over the last year when the curtain is raised on the league season next month.
Speaking to RangersTV ahead of this evening’s pre-season friendly against Birmingham City at St. Andrew’s, McCausland commented: “There’s quite a few [learnings] I can take. I played in a lot of games and in some quite big situations; there’s a lot of stuff I can take from last season into this one.
“The biggest thing would be trying to be as involved in the games as I can, being smart on the ball, and trying to outsmart someone who is bigger when you need to find something different.
“All the teams we play against will play in a different way, and you need to adapt in order to hurt them in some ways.
“It comes so fast that you don’t have the chance to think about it. I’ve always said this, but it felt like it just happened and I didn’t have the time to reflect.
“I’ve had the time to think now and enjoy the experiences. I’m hopefully going to be more used to the physical aspects and in the legs as well, and I can use it to my advantage.
“I’d say something that I want to achieve this season is to be a regular in the games, as well as getting my numbers up in terms of goals and assists."
Tonight’s trip to the Midlands marks the penultimate pre-season outing for Clement’s side, with Union Berlin to come this weekend before the Scottish Premiership opener away to Hearts next month.
There has been a mix of youth and experience on show throughout the pre-season diet thus far, with McCausland sharing a pitch with Findlay Curtis, Robbie Fraser and Cole McKinnon, the latter two of whom have shared a similar journey through the Academy to the Northern Ireland international.
The 21-year-old insists it’s a source of pride to witness the Academy representation in the first-team, and he hopes he’s able to pass on his experience of making the breakthrough to the young players in the squad.
He continued: “I played with Findlay for about a year and both Robbie and Cole since I was 16.
“It’s amazing to play alongside people that you’re close to on a football pitch. It’s good for those new Academy players to be around and learn the things that I’ve learned over the last six months.”
On the challenge of Birmingham City this evening, McCausland added: “We’ve done bits and bobs [on them], but we really want to focus on ourselves because we know what’s around the corner.
“They’re going to be physical and aggressive because we all know we want to make it as tough as possible for each other with the season coming up.
“The fans are going to come in their numbers as they always do. We got to see them at Murrayfield for the United game and it’ll be good to see them again.”