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SCOT GEMMILL insists Ibrox kid Ryan Hardie won’t be fazed by the Premiership play-offs.

That’s because the Scotland Under-17 coach reckons he should have been a first-team regular with Rangers a long time ago.

Gemmill has worked closely with the 18-year-old and let him lead the line at last year’s Euro Finals in Malta.

Hardie helped the young Scots reach the semi-finals and has now kicked on at his club this term.

He has already scored twice for Stuart McCall’s side and could be a key figure as the Glasgow giants try to secure Premiership promotion.

Gemmill has no doubts that Hardie will continue to impress in the play-offs – in fact, he’s just bemused that his chance to shine has taken this long.

He said: “I’m surprised Ryan wasn’t playing for Rangers sooner. I haven’t seen a lot of their games recently so that’s just going on what I know about him. He scores goals, it’s as simple as that.

“I’d like to see Ryan playing at the highest level with the best players to see what he can do.

“He’s scored goals at youth level and for the U17s so it would be brilliant to see him with better players.

“That’s part of the process for all young players – until you put them into a situation you don’t know how they’ll react, on and off the pitch. I don’t care how experienced you are.

“But putting them in with better senior players usually ends with good results.

“The pressure of the play-offs won’t bother him. When I first met Ryan a couple of years ago I remember being critical of him for not doing enough.

“It was in a team meeting in Romania and I had a go at him. We’d conceded a goal and I thought Ryan could have done more defensively when we didn’t have the ball.

“I was trying to help him get better and he’s done that.”

(Image: SNS Group)

Finding a good blend is something Gemmill is adept at after guiding Scotland U17s to a second Euro Finals in a row.

The action in Bulgaria kicks off this week with Scotland starting their Group C bid on Thursday against France before facing Russia and Greece.

While Gemmill is building a reputation as a respected coach he insists the country’s top kids are making his job easier.

He said: “The secret is good players. I remember being on my Pro-Licence and Andy Roxburgh was doing a presentation on tactics.

“He was looking for a bit of support from Archie Knox, who said, ‘See all that Andy, if you haven’t got the players, you’re f*****’. That is true. The players we have now are good and are playing well.

“These boys haven’t just got a will to win, they’ve got the will to prepare to win.

“We can finish in the top six which would see us qualify for the U17 World Cup in Chile. It’s about getting out of our group and all the focus is on our first game against France.”