'Not a bad stat to have!' - History-making Rangers starlet opens up on scoring first senior goal in Aris Limassol draw

History-maker Ross McCausland confessed "it's not a bad stat to have" after the Rangers attacker became Northern Ireland's youngest player to score in a major European competition since Michael O'Neill back in 1989.

Just a matter of weeks after making his senior international debut, the 20-year-old winger was summoned off the bench much earlier than anticipated to dig Philippe Clement's side out of a large hole to clinch a share of the spoils against Aris Limassol at Ibrox.

Having been introduced for fellow playmaker Todd Cantwell, who gifted away possession in the build-up to Aris' opening goal after 35 minutes, McCausland stepped up to the mark and justified the faith placed in him by Clement.

He took full advantage of his opportunity against the Cypriots, displaying a ruthless nature to net his first senior goal for his boyhood club. In addition, McCausland's goal meant he created a slice of history by scoring in Europe at 20 years and 202 days. Reflecting on the match and his surprise at being called upon so early, McCausland told TNT Sports: "We're disappointed, it's not the result we came out to get. But it's all to play for in the next game (Real Betis). I didn't think I would get on as soon as I did but obviously I'm chuffed to be able to come on the pitch so early to make an impact in the game. "To be honest, I was thinking about it on the bus today that I would really love to score if I got on. Over the past week, I've been talking about the next milestone to achieve was getting a goal for Rangers so I was delighted to be able to get that.

"(The manager) just told me to be direct, give the team a bit of width and to just keep doing what I've been doing. I just wanted to go on and give the team something that we maybe weren't getting." After being informed of his historic achievement, the starlet reacted by admitting: "It's not a bad stat to have! A couple of years ago I would not have thought I'd have been in the situation that I'm in today. So I'm proud as punch of myself and I'm delighted to be getting all of these opportunities."

The battle for a place in the Europa League knockout stage will now go down to the final matchday of Group C following the 1-1 draw.