It was Northern Ireland legend Steven Davis who handed Ross McCausland his opportunity at Rangers.
Following the sacking of Michael Beale in October 2023, Davo was entrusted with the Rangers squad and handed McCausland his chance in the 2-0 defeat of St Mirren.
Since then the young winger hasn’t looked back.
That decision has allowed Ross McCausland the opportunity to impress at Rangers and has been a pre-cursor to his involvement at Northern Ireland level.
Now, the 21-year-old has been earning his fifth cap for the Ulstermen in a controversial defeat to Bulgaria as his progress on the international stage continues.
Ross McCausland earns fifth Northern Ireland cap
Ross McCausland is yet to start for Northern Ireland as Michael O’Neill begins to introduce the talented young Ibrox winger to the international fold.
But unlike Steve Clarke and Scotland, O’Neill has been utilising the Rangers talents at his disposal in the shape of the former Linfield talent.
Coming off the bench in the 2-0 victory over Luxembourg, McCausland was given a bright seven-minute cameo against Bulgaria as he replaced Trai Hume in the latter stages of the game.
But the winger was powerless to resist as Kiril Despodov’s first half goal was enough to hand Northern Ireland their first defeat in three games.
Speaking after the match, Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill was left furious at the state of the Bulgaria pitch and claimed it was not at a suitable UEFA Nations League level.
“It’s not an excuse because it’s the same for the Bulgarian players, but that’s as poor a pitch as we’ve had in a long time,” O’Neill told BBC Sport.
“It didn’t help either team and it probably led to a physical game and it made life difficult for the referee.
“Challenges looked mistimed, and there were probably too many yellow cards for challenges that were a consequence of the pitch as much as anything else.”
The result leaves Northern Ireland 3rd in UEFA Nations League C Group 3, with O’Neill’s side set to face Belarus (A) and Bulgaria (H) during the next international break on the 12th and 15th of October respectively.
Rangers winger sets sights on improvement this season
Ross McCausland will now return to the Rangers Training Centre as he looks to leave a bigger impact on the squad this season.
Undoubtedly the breakthrough player of the last campaign, the challenge for McCausland is to become a matchwinner from out wide who regularly contributes goals and assists.
Speaking ahead of the new season – where McCausland’s only goal so far came in the 2-0 Premier Sports Cup win over St Johnstone – the winger claimed he was eager to build on any personal success from last season.
“There’s quite a few [learnings] I can take,” McCausland told the official Rangers website. “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.
We all want to take our experiences that we’ve gained and use them positively as young players.
“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.”
Whilst Ross McCausland has made six appearances this season, the winger played 42 times last campaign, scoring five goals and laying on six assists.
