Youngster Ryan Hardie has spoken of his delight at making his top flight debut for Rangers in last weekend’s scoreless draw with Hearts, but obviously he wished the game had ended in victory and all three points for the club.
The 20 year old last appeared in the five one Scottish Cup win over Cowdenbeath in January 2016, and he spent two loan spells out with Raith Rovers and St Mirren since then, but he was back on the pitch last weekend and he knew he could’ve capped his Premiership debut with his first top flight goal aswell.
Speaking to the Official Site as he was back in training this week, he reflected on his bow last weekend and having had a taste of top flight football he wanted more.
‘It was an amazing feeling when I got the shout, and definitely one of the best feelings of my career so far. It`s the first time I have ever played in the top flight in my career, so it was a big, big achievement for me personally. When I was on-loan at Raith, I got a bit of experience of what it would be like having played against Hearts in one of the cups. So I knew what it was going to be like and I knew what I had to do, so on that level it was a bit easier having played against them before.’
He went on to say.
‘I was only on for a short amount of time, but when I got the ball I kept it and then when I got the chance, looking back on it now, I could have did a little bit better, and maybe reversed it. It`s easy saying that now and when you`re in the moment, you have to think quickly. It was a good block by the defender, but maybe I should have scored. Playing in front of all of those fans, there definitely is a lot of pressure on you when you go on to the pitch. As a footballer, what you try to do is the best you can to help your team win, and that`s what players thrive on – that pressure. It`s what you need to do and it`s what you need to come through.’
Having played alongside Alfredo Morelos in attack as he entered the game as a second half substitute, he felt the two of them had done relatively well even though it was the first time they had supported each other.
‘They have come in and made a great impact on the group. They have great experience of other nations, and Alfredo is pretty much the same age as me so we need to learn of guys like Eduardo and Kenny Miller. It is good for us playing together, and we just need to get used to each-others different movements and things like that. There is a language barrier, but as a footballer, you know you can make certain movements and people can bounce off the back of you.’
