RANGERS B Team coach David McCallum spoke to the Rangers Review and other media outlets ahead of the UEFA Youth League match with Napoli at Firhill on Wednesday.

Here is everything he had to say.

It's the first home game of the Youth League and you must be hoping for a large crowd to come and support the team? 

Absolutely. The reason that we have taken the game to Firhill is that it is closer to the city centre and you are hopeful that fans that might want to go to both games, it makes it easier for them to do that. The players would love any sort of backing that we could get for that game.

Looking back at the experience of going to Ajax, was there one thing that was a big learning takeaway for you?

I think everyone will know what Ajax have got in terms of the training facilities and the closeness of the stadium. It is a nice place to go and play football. From our point of view and looking at the game in isolation one of the biggest things, and we spoke about it before the game and again at half-time, was about going and believing in yourself and go and back yourself. We know they are good players and a good team, they have been renowned for producing players for a number of years, but we have to believe in ourselves at the same time. I think the biggest difference in both halves was the second half it was almost like the shackles came off, we got closer to Ajax when they had possession and made it more difficult for them to play. In turn, that gave us more time on the ball and some opportunities off the back of that as well. I think this game is about believing in ourselves a little bit more. When we don’t have the ball it is fine, but when you can you get as close to Napoli as you possibly can.

What are you expecting from Napoli?

It is a bit different. When you look at the Ajax game, we had some information on them and some footage but it wasn’t all the players that played in the game. Some were playing for the Ajax young team and some for the Under-18s so it was a bit of a mixture. The difference this time is that we have managed to get eyes on the game that Napoli and Liverpool played. We have looked at the way that Napoli played and how we can get up to defend against that, but more importantly how we set ourselves up to go and make good of the possession that we have and exploit the spaces that we think we can create off the back of the movement that our front line particularly can bring to the game.

How is Alex Lowry progressing following the injury he sustained?

He is progressing well. He is obviously not back on the football pitch yet and not back in contention for any game time at the moment. But any time I have seen him or had conversations about him, it seems to be quite positive just now.

Is there an up-to-date timescale with Alex and how is he from a mental point of view?

I think when he got the initial feedback that the injury wasn’t going to be as long-term as what we initially thought, I think naturally Alex felt a bit better about that because he could see a bit of brightness ahead. But in terms of that, I don’t have any more on that that I am able to share just now.

In terms of the campaign as a whole, what can you learn from the other teams in the group to take into future years?

The best v best philosophy we have had for a number of years now has been important to us but I think this is a bit different because it is that but in a more competitive environment. It is not just a friendly against one of the top sides. It is a mini-league programme, which is excellent for the lads, because it is finding a way to perform, finding a way to try and get a positive result at the end of it and maybe getting to the knock-out stages of the competition. For us at the moment, we have three different kinds of opposition. You look at Ajax last week, it was very much a possession-based team who will, where they possibly can, put you into submission in terms of the amount of time they spend on the ball. When a team is like that, it is not to be impatient, it is to understand we will have moments and to find a way to create pressure. You have to go after them as a group rather than as individuals because you will get picked off. Napoli might be a little bit different, they look like they play more of a front two and can go 4-3-4 or a back five into a three and a two. It looks like that from the footage we have seen so we will prepare for that and hopefully the plan we put in place will come across within the game. We know there are going to be times when we don’t have the ball, but we believe that when we do have it that we can hurt them. Looking beyond that to Liverpool, you have more of a British-style game. But Liverpool, when you look at their first team and Academy, they have been successful in recent years. It is exciting games and ones the players are very much looking forward to. We are pleased with last week’s performance but obviously not with the outcome at the end.

Has the lack of footage been a bit of a challenge for you?

You do get footage. When you bring your 19s group together in this competition, it can be a combination of a couple of squads because we don’t run with a 19s group, we run with 18s. Some of the guys at Ajax are playing up to the Ajax young team so that isn’t all the ones that are playing in these games as well. It’s almost a moving together of players from different squads but it doesn’t necessarily change the style of how they play. Most teams at this level will have a general consistency of how their first team and how their academy plays. Not everyone but most of them do so you get an understanding of what it might look like and especially when you get some footage. I guess now that the competition has started, the footage will become more readily available for us and we can look at that. I’ve always said the footage is great because it gives you an indication of what it might look like but it certainly doesn’t give you a guarantee and the way we would always use that footage is to try to make it about us. Here’s how we will go against that either when we don’t have the ball or here’s how we will go and make good of our possession when we do have the ball to try hurt how they shape up or how they might move in areas of the pitch they don’t want to be. We always try and turn it round to us but I think it’s good for the players to have a snapshot of what they might come up against but you have to adapt. When I look back to the Ajax game, we did adapt in the first half because the way we thought we might press in the first half we had to change. That’s good for the players to actually feel that during a game and recognise that sometimes we might have a plan and that might have to change and that was the case last week.

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Your team recovered well after going 2-0 down, was that a bit of magic from you or group spirit coming through?

I wouldn’t say it’s a bit of magic from myself. The second goal that we lost came at a time when we’ve just hit the post. I do think on the back of that we should’ve had a free kick on the edge of the Ajax box that we didn’t get and within three passes it’s 2-0. It just shows you how quickly you can be punished if maybe something doesn’t go quite right for you or you’re not prepared to defend. I think a key moment for us was getting the goal just before half time because that gives the boys a little bit of belief. At half time it was just about reinforcing the positives of when you started believing in ourselves when we had the ball and the success we can create when we have the ball but also about just being more aggressive. I mean that by the fact we can get closer to them, we don’t need to stand off and watch how they play. It’s looking for triggers for moments to get closer to them and backing your mate up when you get that opportunity. I thought in the second half we were much better at getting closer to their backline when they were trying to build. I thought our middle line then backed it up and I thought we got many more regains off the back of that. I think after speaking to the players that was a little bit of nervousness because they’re going into a competition they’ve not been used to. We’ve got some guys in there who were born in 2005 and 2006 and we can’t just expect them to think it’s normal to go into that level of game. They had a little bit of nerves but at half time I think they realised that they could actually go and be who they are and back themselves and trust themselves and I think that helped the performance levels.

How difficult is it to select two, three or four guys from the Under 18s to play in the squad given how well they’ve played recently?

Selecting any player for these competitions, some are easier than others because they’re at different stages of their journey but we absolutely have Under 18s players who are pushing to try and get closer to the squad, if not the starting team. Obviously, you’ve seen Paul Nsio started the game and Jacob Pazikas we forget is actually under 18 as well although he’s spending most of his time with the B Team this season. Greig Allan came onto the pitch as an Under 18 player as well, Archie Stevens and off the back of that you’ve got some guys on the bench and some who just missed out. Any player who is not involved will naturally feel a little bit disappointed but I would hope what they would see is the ones that have come in that opportunities might open up if they continue to perform at the levels they can. We have the same message for the lads in the B Team squad where they’re trying to aspire to get closer to the first team and you never know when those doors open. All they can do is continue to progress to push at their own levels to make sure when an opportunity does come then they’re ready to take it. It’s a consistent flow of messages that we try to push to the ones who are not quite there yet but hopefully that sight when they look further ahead it can still happen.

How difficult is it to tell some of the guys that they can’t be in the squad due to the rules and regulations?

Very difficult. It’s never easy to deliver it when you’re telling somebody that could be involved in the group and for whatever reason, that may be they may have to be left out. All you can ever do in those moments is be honest. Sometimes it might be that at this stage somebody is more deserving of playing and sometimes it might be that unfortunately the rules and regulations that you’re governed by in the competition that that’s the way it sits. It’s not easy and it’s never easy for the player to receive that, that’s for sure but we always try and make sure to be honest and hopefully at some point in the competition, one or two might get opportunities that they may have missed out on in other situations.