ROSS McCrorie has packed more into his season than most players manage in their careers.

The 19-year-old has broken into the Rangers first team, been hailed as a future Scottish football great, played in the Glasgow derby match against Celtic, scored his first goal for the Ibrox club and gifted Hamilton an historic win. Goodness only knows what 2018 will bring.

But the chances are high the young defender, who was once again excellent in the 2-1 win over Ross County on Saturday despite being played out of position in central midfield, will continue to develop and progress for as long as caretaker manager Graeme Murty remains in charge.

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Murty is, despite Derek McInnes turning down the chance to move from Aberdeen to Rangers last week and even though it has been confirmed he will continue in his current role until the end of the year at least, unlikely to be appointed on a full-time basis due to his inexperience.

The 43-year-old, though, continues to impress enormously. The way he handled his team falling behind to an early Craig Curran goal at the weekend as the home supporters in the 48,139 crowd grew increasingly restless was mature. There was, he later confirmed, no ranting and raving in the dressing room at half-time. He simply replaced Carlos Pena with Alfredo Morelos, changed the shape of his side and reaped the rewards.

Second half goals from Morelos, who hadn’t netted in 10 games, and Danny Wilson, who nodded in his second header in six days, ensured Rangers, who went into the encounter on the back of successive triumphs over Aberdeen, won three games in a row for the first time in almost a year and reclaimed second spot in the top flight table. Far more experienced coaches would have been rather satisfied with their afternoon’s work.

However, it is in his deft handling of McCrorie’s embryonic career where Murty has done particularly well since temporarily taking over from Pedro Caixinha back at the end of October. His predecessor was, to his credit, the man who recognised the potential the teenager possessed and gave him his chance. But he has ensured the promising player has developed and improved.

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The former Scotland internationalist hasn't, unlike Caixinha, made any grandiose claims about the heights which the youngster can scale in the years to come. But the way he has handled being selected in a variety of positions in recent weeks and his willingness to learn suggests he can go far.

“He is a young man that is maturing really well and he is the least arrogant young footballer I have met in a long time,” said Murty. “He wants to learn, he wants to get better. He has got some fantastic attributes and every challenge that has been thrown at him he has met really well. The next step is how far can he go?

“I have been extremely careful with him. When I came to the club, he had a big reputation. But I had to judge him for myself, judge the areas where he had to improve. Ross is a work in progress. At the moment, he is operating at a high level and you see the distance he has come in a short space of time. The rest of his potential, we are not really sure how far he can go yet.

“It is up to us to ensure we continue to nurture that talent and not think his talent has grown as far as it can just because he is playing in the first team. He has still got a lot of development to do and it is our job, collectively, to ensure he has that hunger to go and get better and not just be content to play for the Rangers first team, but to be the best player on the pitch for the Rangers first team and see where that takes him.”

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Murty outlined why McCrorie’s involvement in central midfield has helped Rangers, who face a difficult task keeping their winning run going against Hibs away at Easter Road on Wednesday evening, enormously in recent weeks.

“He can play numerous positions,” he said. “He has played left back, right back, centre back, centre mid. It suits the team at the moment. He is astute tactically, he possesses a broad range of talents, but more importantly he understands the role that you put him in to.

“If you put him a role, he comes to you with good questions. What do I do in this situation? What do I do if this happens? and turns it into a performance. He can take stuff on and it is making sure we tweak his game to the requirements of the team.

“I wanted to get some more energy in the team and let Ryan (Jack) and Jason (Holt) off the leash a little bit because they possess good energy, they can go box to box. But I want to have more structure behind those guys and Ross gives us that.

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“He gives us that discipline and that diligence and he allowed Ryan and Jason to give energy and quality. In both Aberdeen games, I thought those two looks freer than they have done for some time because they had Ross behind them.”

The way McCrorie has recovered from his costly slip-up in the 2-0 defeat to Hamilton last month – he gifted David Templeton the opening goal with a slack pass back – has indicated to Murty that he has the mental strength required to succeed at Rangers.

“He has moved past it and you have to do that in this environment, you have to do that at a big club,” he said. “It is a measure of the young man, and let’s not forget he is a young man, that he has been able to take that and learn from it and not be cowed by it. I’m not sure I could make a mistake like that in front of 50,000 and stand up as resolutely as he has so that is a credit to him.”