Former Rangers and Scotland star Stuart McCall is delighted to see Ibrox teenager Nathan Patterson in Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad for Euro 2020 – and compared his rapid ascent to Borussia Dortmund and England star Jude Bellingham.
Both Patterson and Bellingham will represent their nations at their maiden major tournament and McCall thinks comments made by Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate show why Patterson could have a chance of forcing his way into the starting XI for the finals.
While Motherwell’s Stephen O’Donnell is widely expected to start the tournament as Scotland’s first-choice at right-back, Ibrox icon McCall is confident that Patterson will be pushing him all the way in a bid to get into the side.
“He really impresses me,” McCall said, as quoted by the Glasgow Times. “It’s great that he’s got into the squad.
“If he could have finished the season by playing the last four or five games and really put himself in the forefront of it, that might have been better for him.
“Stephen O’Donnell has done fantastically well for Scotland and Motherwell. I think we all believe he’ll be first pick. But I think Nathan will be pushing in training. Just being in the camp can change a manager’s mind.
“You bring somebody in and they change your mind. Gareth Southgate said the other day that the young kid Bellingham had blown him away in training sessions.
“I remember Oli Burke coming into the group, when we had no pace in the Scotland group, and we felt ready to throw him in right away to stretch the game.
“With 26 players instead of 23, I would always argue for the extra three to be younger ones. They learn what it’s like being in your group, travelling away, training together. Steve will also get to know them as characters around the hotel.
“Nathan certainly comes into his thinking, even if we can’t get carried away after 10 games or so.”
Euro 2020 can provide a huge springboard for Rangers teen
With Patterson having only 16 senior appearances to his name, the full-back can really make a name for himself at Euro 2020 for Scotland.
Coming up against some of the best players on the continent will be a massive test for him, if he’s given the nod, but after impressing for Rangers at home and in Europe,
An eye-catching Euros could even see him return to Ibrox and be considered a genuine threat to James Tavernier’s place in the Rangers starting XI in the short-term.
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