Northern Ireland under-21 international Ross McCausland made his first Rangers start at the weekend as the Glasgow outfit netted a 2-0 win at Livingston.
The 20-year-old winger, who has been used six times from the bench this season, almost rounded off a momentous day a minute before the interval when he had the ball in the net only to have it ruled out by the referee for an infringement.
Rangers new manager Philippe Clement was impressed by McCausland’s performance throughout his 78 minutes on the pitch and promised the youngster will get plenty more first-team opportunities this season if he continues his progress.
“He’s still a young lad but with the right mentality,” Clement said. “He works hard in training and is very focused.
“I’m also a manager who gives chances to young players if they show the right things in training and I’ll pick the right moments to put them on or bring them in.”
Meanwhile on the goalscoring front, George Saville clocked up his second goal of the season with a stunning strike in Millwall’s emphatic 4-0 Championship success at bottom-of-the-table Sheffield Wednesday.
🤩 @GeorgeSav_ 🤩👏pic.twitter.com/TdD6zowSR6
— Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) November 11, 2023
Also on the scoresheet over the weekend was former under-21 international striker Jamie Reid, who took his tally for the season to 13 after hitting the only goal of the game for League One Stevenage at Wycombe and former Linfield player Liam McStravick, who found the net in Airdrieonians 2-0 victory Arbroath.
Unfortunately Jonny Evans missed Manchester United’s 1-0 victory at Old Trafford against newly promoted Luton Town with a thigh injury which has also ruled him out of Northern Ireland’s remaining UEFA 2024 qualifying games against Finland and Denmark.
In the Championship Paul Smyth, Paddy McNair, Jamal Lewis and Trai Hume all started for their respective clubs though Dan Ballard was absent from Sunderland’s 3-1 home success over Birmingham City through suspension.
Elsewhere, midfielder Sean Goss made his first start for his new club Asteras Tripoli as they fell to a 2-0 defeat at home to Olympiakos.
Goalkeeper Luke Southwood helped struggling Cheltenham Town to a valuable point in their 1-1 draw at home to Wigan Athletic when he saved a 64th-minute penalty from Stephen Humphrys.
In the Under-21 Premier League Cup Northern Ireland U19 forward Sam Glenfield scored his first goal of the season as Fleetwood Town recorded a 3-0 win at Huddersfield Town.
Winger Kieran Morrison, who has also been called up into Gareth McAuley’s under-19 squad for their upcoming mini-tournament, followed up last week’s hat-trick with a brace of goals and an assist in Liverpool U18’s 4-2 victory over Stoke City.
Finally, there were assists over the weekend for Trai Hume (Sunderland), Jordan Jones (Wigan Athletic) and Paddy Lane (Portsmouth).
