Rising Star

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ANDREW LITTLE will get another chance to impress national coach Nigel Worthington again tonight when Northern Ireland face Scotland at Broadwood in a 'B' international.

 

It's yet another big night for the level headed youngster who has seen his career take a giant leap forward in the past two months.

 

Andrew LittleThe 19 year-old was a regular for Tommy Wilson's Reserves when he when he made his international debut on March 28, going on as a late substitute for David Healy in the country's World Cup qualifying win over Poland at Windsor Park.

 

It was a proud moment for the Enniskillen-born player who had, at that point, yet to make a first-team appearance at club level.

 

This all changed on April 25 when he capped an unforgettable period of his life by replacing Kris Boyd with nine minutes remaining of the 3-0 Scottish Cup semi-final win over St. Mirren at Hampden.

 

Little admits that he had to pinch himself after recent events but he now has his sights set fulfilling his undoubted potential, starting tonight in Cumbernauld against his Gers teammates Andy Webster and Steven Naismith.

 

He said: "Hopefully I will play in the game against Scotland and then in June there will be a senior Northern Ireland squad announced, I would like to be in that also.

 

"But the last couple of months have been crazy; if you had told me six weeks ago that I had made my full Northern Ireland and Rangers debuts I would have thought you were drunk. Andrew Little replaces Kris Boyd in the League Cup semi-final 2009

 

"To do both recently was brilliant and I am very proud to have been given that chance.

 

"The night before the Scottish Cup semi-final I was on the phone to my mum and she was all for coming over when she found out I was on the bench.

 

"I told her she shouldn't make the trip because it would be sods law that she would travel and I would not play.

 

"So all my family were watching the game at home and it was a very special moment for them to see me making my Rangers debut at Hampden.

 

"When Danny (Wilson) and I were warming up we both knew there was a chance one of us might go on.

 

"I was constantly looking over at the bench to see if my name would be called and Danny was the same.

 

Andrew Little"Being a forward I thought that might give me a slightly better chance and the fact Boydy had already scored his 100th goal also helped my cause a bit.

 

"But it was a great to get a game and the fact the game was sitting at 3-0 meant there was not any pressure on me."

 

Replacing Boyd was a dream scenario for Andrew who admits that training with the club's prolific striker on a regular basis has been hugely beneficial to his development.

 

He said: "There is no better player in the business when it comes to finishing than Boydy.

 

"It's frightening to think that he is the fastest Rangers player to hit 100 goals for 50 years.

 

"Learning from him is brilliant and every day in training you see how he does it although a lot of what he does is natural. We also have Ally and he did pretty well also!

 

"As a striker you can only learn from people like Kris and to replace him in the final was pretty special.

 

"There was obviously a massive cheer when he came off and I kind of hoped it was for me going on!

 

"But Kris is someone I look up to a lot and to make my debut coming on for him made it all the more special."