Rangers’ Scottish Cup elimination at the hands of St. Johnstone has also brought about the end of Nathan Patterson’s season – and will almost certainly spell the end of any hopes the teenager has of a place in Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad for Euro 2020.
The defender has been touted as a possible contender for a place in the national team squad but with the defeat leaving the Gers with only three games left, he’ll be suspended for the rest of the campaign.
While he would probably have lost his place back to captain James Tavernier, going more than a month without playing a single minute of football will definitely not count in his favour.
The expanded squads countries are allowed to name could still leave an outside chance for Patterson to force his way into the squad but his ban for breaching Covid regulations couldn’t come at a worse time for him.
Had Patterson had the chance to play once before the season ended he could well have catapulted himself into a place in the squad with the potential addition of a Scottish Cup semi-final and final appearance giving him the chance to get some minutes under his belt.
However, he’ll have to wait until the new season now and hope Scotland aren’t waiting 23 years to reach a major tournament again if he’s to get the chance to play in a major finals.
At 19, he’s got a massive future ahead of him though and won’t have had any expectation of a place in the squad for the finals.
It won’t be long however until Clarke has no option but to name him in his squads.
In other news, Boyhood Rangers fan Zander Clark joked he was ‘devasted’ after shock Cup triumph
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