Former Rangers loanee Dom Ball has praised former Ibrox teammate Barrie McKay after he completed a move to Hearts, branding the winger one of the “most influential” players at the club during his time there.
Ball spent time on loan at Ibrox on loan from Tottenham and confessed that the one-time Scotland cap was “continuously wowing” him in training and in games for the Light Blues.
“My season at Rangers was also Barrie’s breakthrough year,” Ball said. “He’d had a tough time at the club before but immediately in pre-season you could see how well he was going to do that year.
“He really stood out in training and he was definitely one of our better players that season. The manager had the intention of building a totally new squad that summer but once he saw Barrie’s quality there was no way he was going to let him go.
“From there he became one of our most influential players. I can remember him continuously wowing me. He was so effective in creating chances and was so direct one-on-one.
“We were obviously playing in the Championship that year but even when we came up against top-flight teams in the cups, he still looked too good. He took his opportunity and he just flew it.”
One of those Cup games was an Old Firm clash at Hampden which saw Mark Warburton’s Championship side beat bitter rivals Celtic in the semi-final, with McKay scoring an absolute screamer from distance.
Ball still rates that strike as the best he’s seen in a game he’s been involved in, admitting he “couldn’t believe” what he’d seen as the winger lashed the ball home from distance and blowing the roof off the Rangers end at Hampden.
“I still remember him skipping past Scott Brown at Hampden and then just letting rip,” he added. “When it flew past Craig Gordon into the net, I couldn’t believe what I’d just seen. It’s still the best goal I’ve ever seen whilst standing on the same pitch.”
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