Rangers loanee Ross McCrorie sets Scotland target and tells of importance of Portsmouth stay in achieving international ambition

And the Blues loanee has outlined his dream of one day skippering the senior side and continuing an outstanding run of wearing the armband for his country.

McCrorie has now made five appearances since returning from a troublesome hamstring injury after joining on loan for the season from Scottish giants Rangers.

The 21-year-old admitted his move to Fratton Park was always with a view to catching the eye of Scotland boss Steve Clarke and making the breakthrough at senior level.

And that firmly remains a target for the versatile talent - hopefully in the not-too-distant future.

‘I’m pushing now (for a full cap),’ McCrorie said.

‘It’s the target for me. It’s got to be the target for every young boy playing in Scotland.

‘It’s certainly one of my main targets to push for the main squad. We’ll see what happens.

‘I’ve been captain all the way through from under-17s, under-19s and under-21s.

‘That’s a huge honour and I’m thankful to (under-21 manager) Scot Gemmill for putting his trust in me.

‘I really enjoy going away with Scotland and playing international football.

‘Hopefully the next push now is the senior team.

‘That’s the one. That’s the reason I came down here.

‘I’m pushing now and there’s a few trips coming up so we’ll see.’

McCrorie’s immediate target is to help the Scottish under-21 side to qualification to the European Championships in Hungary and Slovenia next year.

The next steps on that quest arrive later this month with games against Croatia and Greece, with Gemmill’s side sat third in Group Four in an open group.

Both of McCrorie’s next opponents are in contention to qualify along with leaders Czech Republic.

McCrorie added: ‘The games are after Ipswich, so I miss the Oxford game.

‘That will be missed, but there’s Ronan (Curtis) and there could be a few boys away, too.

‘We’ve got Croatia and Greece to play.

‘It’s right but we’re right in there with all the others. There’s not a lot between us all, so these are two massive games we’ve got coming up. Hopefully we can push on.’

The stay at Pompey this term may not have been what McCrorie anticipated, with the lad from Ayrshire having injury issues which have restricted him to 20 appearances.

But he’s still confident there could be a lot still to happen in his and Pompey’s season.

McCrorie said: ‘If we can get two trophies I’ll obviously be happy when I go back up the road!

‘I’ve had my injuries, but they happen and you can’t really write the script with injuries.

‘I’ve played an alright amount of games considering the time I’ve been out.

‘It’s been a few months all in with the injuries. It’s quite a bit but I’ve enjoyed my time here and hopefully we can now push for trophies at the end of the season.’