Barry Ferguson has issued a reminder to one Rangers starlet not to get too complacent going into the second-half of the season.
The Ibrox club’s January transfer business was wrapped up on deadline day yesterday with winger Oscar Cortes arriving on loan from RC Lens for the rest of the season.
The Colombian joined £4.3m midfielder Mohamed Diomande and Wolves loanee Fabio Silva on the incomings list as Philippe Clement and Nils Koppen strengthened the squad for the Scottish Premiership title battle versus Celtic.
Cortes can play on the left or right flanks and will provide relief for Clement who has lost key man Abdallah Sima to injury for a lengthy period of time.
But former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson now thinks Ross McCausland has to be wary of his starting position in the team now that Cortes is a Rangers player.
Barry Ferguson on Ross McCausland
20-year-old Ross McCausland has enjoyed plenty of first-team action this season after breaking onto the scene under Philippe Clement.
The Belgian has played McCausland in every Scottish Premiership clash since the 49-year-old’s Govan arrival and in all competitions has three goals and three assists to his name so far [Transfermarkt].
He and Rabbi Matondo have been Clement’s go-to wingers over the past few games but with Oscar Cortes now in the building, Barry Ferguson had an important message for McCausland.
Writing in his weekly Daily Record column, Ferguson noted: “Clement will gently bleed both of them (Cortes and Mohamed Diomande) into his team over the coming weeks and that will come as a huge boost – and maybe even a bit of a challenge – to the guys who have been there for some time.
“I know how I felt during my own playing days, when I was still a youngster trying to hold on to my place in the starting 11.
“Just when you think you’ve earned your jersey, along come the likes of Claudio Reyna, Tugay and Ronald de Boer just to remind you that you can’t afford to take your foot off the gas.
“That’ll be the case now for Ross McCausland who has done exceptionally well, not just to break his way into the first team but to make himself a regular starter. But, from the moment he heard about the interest in Cortes, he’ll have realised he can’t afford to take anything for granted.
“That’s the way it was for me at that age and that’s the way it always has to be at Rangers. At this club, standing still should never be an option.”
