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“Brilliant to watch” – Gers linked midfielder tipped to shine at Euros

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Gordon Smith has held almost every position in football for both club and country, from player to pundit and agent to executive, so he should know a good player when he sees one.

The former Gers director of football has been speaking ahead of the European Championships and has pleaded with Steve Clarke to throw two Auchenhowie academy graduates in at the deep end, as reported by The Daily Record:

“If you are looking at getting your best players out there, (Billy) Gilmour and Nathan Patterson have to be considered.

“He just has to have the belief that they have the quality to do their job, regardless of age and experience. Okay, Patterson has hardly had any games, but the ones he has played for Rangers he was outstanding.

“Certainly, if Scott McTominay was pulled back into defence, Gilmour would go in there. He is an outstanding player.

“I first saw him when he was about nine years old in a Rangers v Celtic youth game and he just ran the show. I remember saying to people, ‘who’s that?’

“He was brilliant to watch.

“When he went to Chelsea I wondered about the physical side of it and whether he would be big enough but he seems to cope with that now.”

Of course, Smith is correct, we saw – albeit against lesser opposition – that the two youngsters have a freshness and dynamism that is lacking in the likes of Stephen O’Donnell and Callum McGregor – yes it might “only” have been Luxembourg but it’s the same team that the two infinitely more experienced team-mates had struggled against for an hour.

Gareth Southgate has played the likes of Jadon Sancho, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden at a young age and England had older players that they could have turned to, Clarke has no excuse, anybody can see that the two boys from Auchenowie have to start but I wouldn’t bet against them only getting a chance when it is already too late.

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