Rangers' Barrie McKay dismisses Celtic keeper Craig Gordon's fluke jibe
Wednesday 27 April 2016 23:12, UK
Rangers winger Barrie McKay has told Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon his Old Firm wonder strike was no fluke.
The Gers youngster was the star of the show as Mark Warburton's team beat their Glasgow rivals in the Scottish Cup semi-final earlier this month, tormenting the Hoops defence and scoring a stunning goal from 25 yards in extra-time before the Hampden match was decided on penalties.
Stopper Gordon was not impressed, however, saying later: "It was a one-hit wonder. He could hit it another 100 times and not hit it as well."
However, McKay, who has received a nomination for the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year award, followed up his derby goal with another long-range special in last week's 3-2 defeat at Hibernian.
"He's got his views on it and everybody else has theirs. It's just a matter of opinion. I think [the goal against Hibs] was two in two," McKay said.
"I've scored quite a few goals like that from outside the box throughout my career but the Old Firm match was a big game to do it in."
The Young Player of the Year nominee admitted he could not have foreseen how things would have turned out 12 months ago. He helped Rangers to the Third Division title in 2013 but then found himself on the periphery at Ibrox under former boss Ally McCoist as he was sent to Morton and Raith Rovers on loan.
Other youngsters were retained as Gers' promotion bid collapsed last season and it took Warburton's arrival in the summer for his potential to be unlocked.
"This nomination means a lot," the 21-year-old said. "It shows you the difference a year can make. I was out on loan last year but didn't have the best of spells at Raith. But the difference this year has been night and day really.
"But I never questioned myself - it was always just about whether I would fit into the plans of who was in charge. I was lucky enough that the manager came in and trusted me completely.
"The manager has been massively important in terms of my development. He and Davie Weir came in and told us that it was a clean slate. Nobody was going to be judged on their past. He gave me my chance and thankfully I took it.
"I'm not doing anything differently this season. I'd say I'm exactly the same type of player but maybe a wee bit more mature. The way that the gaffer has got the team playing suits me better than other teams would.
"For every player, it's about having confidence in yourself. Maybe before I didn't have as much confidence as I'm playing with now. [That was down to] the fact I was put out on loan and maybe I wasn't as happy about that because I wanted to be playing for Rangers. Thankfully I'm back now.
"My family and friends always had belief in me but it was always going to come down to who the manager was and whether I'd be in their plans."
The Gers can complete a treble if they follow up their league and Challenge Cup successes with victory over Hibs in the Scottish Cup final but McKay admits his side will have to raise their game for the May 21 showpiece after taking one point from their last three Championship matches.
"I don't really know what's been happening," he said. "We've still been creating chances but at the same time the other teams have been getting chances that we hadn't been giving them before.
"Now we need to have a look at it and get it sorted straight away. I don't think we need to question ourselves though. We've been doing things the way we have all year but we've just taken a bit of a blip in results."
