Scotland’s back to the wall performance against Spain was made harder by the absence of Kieran Tierney, however, Rangers-linked Scott McKenna proved to be a more than able deputy.
The 26-year old barely put a foot wrong as he dealt with a near 90 minute attack v defence training exercise and wasn’t to blame for either of the two goals conceded.
With his Nottingham Forest contract up at the end of the season and his current lack of game time, Rangers should look to improve their home-grown quota with a January pre-contract offer for Scott McKenna.
Rangers need to consider Scott McKenna after Spain display
Strangely, after two wins and one draw from their first five league games, that included Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea, Steve Cooper has dropped the former Aberdeen defender.
In the four games since, they’ve failed to win against Brentford, Crystal Palace and Burnley.
Rangers can no longer ignore Scottish players and we need better than Scott Wright propping up the numbers.
The young players coming through look promising and both Zak Lovelace and Bailey Rice will soon count as homegrown too.
In the meantime though, Rangers need experience and players they can trust and with years in the Championship, Premier League and 29-caps for Scotland, we shouldn’t turn our nose up at the type of player we have missed recently in Scott McKenna.
As Scotland’s joint highest rated player against Spain according to Squawka, McKenna showed again that he is comfortable at international level now and, despite getting on the scoresheet, more than dealt with the threat of Alvaro Morata when he had to.
He might not be of the same quality, but there is a touch of Filip Helander about McKenna in that he defends first and foremost.
As a natural left footer, he also provides the sort of balance that managers love.
Rangers have missed out on several Scottish players in recent seasons for a number of reasons but Scott McKenna has proven on numerous occasions that he is a far better player than the one that left Aberdeen.
