SCOT GEMMILL last night praised Rangers kids Alex Lowry and Leon King and is hoping their first call-up for the Scotland Under 21s squad will go some of the way to make up for their Europa League Final heartache.
The Ibrox duo are among four new faces in the Scotland Under 21s squad for their double-header next month in Belgium and then Denmark.
Dundee keeper Harry Sharp and colleague Josh Mulligan along with Dundee United youngster Archie Meekison were also called up and Gemmill is excited to work with his new faces for the games in Sint Turuiden and Vejle and praised the Rangers kids, who were both on the bench in Seville, for breaking into the team at the end of the season.
He said: "Both Alex and Leon have played for our younger age groups and we know about them and they were always on course.
"But it is good to see them confirm their talent at a very high level by playing for the Rangers first team.
"That confirmation of talent. You can talk about young players' development and the expectancy with it. But it doesn't always come.
"But these young players have stepped up and taken their opportunity and it really is good to see that. And they have got another Cup Final at the weekend so that is great experience too.
"When you speak to the Rangers staff, like Craig Mulholland, they really have high hopes for these players , but they recognise these players still have further to go and hopefully, this international experience can help them.
"There is possibility and expectation but you need to see that talent confirmed on the pitch.
"You need to know you can trust them to play and there's no better way for the young players to do that than on the pitch in these big games."
And Gemmill is delighted to be back after missing the past two Scotland games with Covid, including the marathon trip to Kazakhstan.
He said: "I felt that I was letting people down, you feel stupid when you are sitting at home watching the game when you should be at your work.
"It's not a nice feeling but we all know it's unavoidable and could happen to anyone and I just needed to accept it."
Squad: Sam Long (Drogheda United), Harrison Sharp (Dundee), Ross Sinclair (St Johnstone), Harrison Ashby (West Ham United), Tom Clayton (Liverpool), Ross Graham (Dundee United), Leon King (Rangers), Lewis Mayo (Rangers), Stephen Welsh (Celtic), Elliot Anderson (Bristol Rovers), Connor Barron (Aberdeen), Jack Burroughs (Coventry City), Jay Henderson (St Mirren), Scott High (Huddersfield Town), Stephen Kelly (Rangers), Marc Leonard (Brighton), Alex Lowry (Rangers), Archie Meekison (Dundee United), Josh Mulligan (Dundee), Connor Smith (Heart of Midlothian), Glenn Middleton (St Johnstone), Dapo Mebude(AFC Wimbledon).
