It’s taken him a while, but it looks like Ross McCausland is rediscovering the sort of form that saw him make such a big impression when he first broke into the Rangers starting XI.
A lot has changed since Steven Davis gave the 21-year old his chance, not only is he now a full international with Northern Ireland, he is also considered a first-team regular and one of Philippe Clement’s go-to men.
The weight of the jersey can be too much for some and, for a while, it looked like it was starting to take its toll on Ross McCausland and it is easy to see why the Rangers boss has been singing the winger’s praises.
Ross McCausland praised for recent Rangers form
Forwards are judged on one thing and one thing only by the Ibrox faithful – goals.
Wingers can get away with not scoring as many if they are chipping in with plenty of assists, however, even Ryan Kent in his most productive season still had his tally questioned.
Since the split, McCausland has scored two and assisted two goals and could easily have improved those numbers with better decision making by himself and finishing from his teammates.
In short, he has been much more promising and looks like he could be a valuable squad member next season.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the 3-3 draw with Hearts, Clement was quick to remind everyone just how far Ross McCausland has come since his first appearance of the season for Rangers against St Mirren:
“For sure, Ross trained last season five times with the first team, five trainings and he was also out with an injury when he was kicked off the pitch.
“He was more than two months out because of that, but you see the last couple of weeks that he’s coming back and back towards his best level.
“He’s taking really good steps if you see where he was at the beginning of the season and now, he makes a really big step forward.”
Edgy McCausland looks like a new player
The biggest difference in the last few games is how aggressive McCausland has been.
Cyriel Dessers really should have opened the scoring at Tynecastle after McCausland squared it to him on the penalty spot after robbing a defender.
His goals against Dundee and Hearts also had an edge to them in that he bullied bigger defenders to get to the ball and then executed the finish perfectly.
Previously, he seemed happier to play it safe.
The issue McCausland has now – if he wants to play regularly – is that he must do this more often and consistently.
Nobody expects him to be the second coming of Mark Walters or Brian Laudrup, but double figures for goals and assists must be the target.
You can never put a price on work rate, heart and a positive mentality and now, Ross McCausland is putting some of his senior Rangers teammates to shame.
