Bailey Rice has been helped, nurtured and encouraged along – by coaches and team-mates, by friends and family - in his journey from the B Team at Auchenhowie to the first team at Ibrox. The most important steps will be the ones that he takes alone.

The aftermath of a Europa League victory over Real Betis was not the time nor the place when it seemed likely that Rice would be the name on the lips of the Rangers support. Yet Michael Beale’s praise of his progress and his potential certainly got people talking as the Ibrox boss teased an introduction to the ‘mad house’ ahead of the visit of Motherwell on Sunday.

That initiation followed as expected. The circumstances were not perfect but Beale’s belief in the 16-year-old was evident as – with his side leading through a Cyriel Dessers effort – Rice replaced Jose Cifuentes in the middle of the park for the closing stages.

For David McCallum, it was a moment that spoke volumes. It was also one that resonated with the teenager as Beale backed up his words with actions and another significant marker post was reached on the road that could take Rice to the top of the game for club and country.

“I think the first thing, watching the game, is that the manager has put Bailey Rice on with ten minutes to go and the game is still very much on a knife edge,” McCallum, Rice’s manager at Under-20s level this season, said after seeing the former Motherwell kid earn another Premiership outing. “It is still sitting at 1-0 and that shows trust it shows belief and I know speaking to Bailey briefly [on Monday morning] that he feels that and it is important to him.

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“For any young lad that is in our Academy, the Holy Grail is to get to the first team. That is what we want to try and promote and try and push players towards.

“But we won’t do it for them, they have got to do it. They are part of this journey and they will get as much support in what we believe is a really good programme for them to go and develop in.

“But ultimately it comes down to competing, to being something that the manager and his staff take a liking to. I use the word trust and that is the most important thing and we will keep supporting.

“Any player that sees Bailey doing that, they have got to take belief that if you are good enough then the doors will open.”

Rice has been spoken about as a potential first team player ever since he made the move from Fir Park to Ibrox last summer as part of an extensive recruitment drive that saw Rangers remodel their Under-18 squad with rising talents from both sides of the border. Another of those signings, striker Zak Lovelace, was also part of Beale’s group for the meeting with the Steelmen.

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The League Cup clash against Livingston on Wednesday evening could provide Rice with his next chance to shine. Injuries to the likes of Nicolas Raskin, Todd Cantwell and Tom Lawrence have aided his cause as Beale’s options have been reduced but Rice is there on his own merits.

“Bailey is level, you don’t see him getting too up or too down,” McCallum said. “It is a good trait to have. That is not to say he doesn’t have an emotional side, as any young footballer would have.

“But I think what he does is that he backs himself, which is important. He has got a bit of personality so when you go and play with senior professional players, you need to be able to go and back yourself. He does that really, really well.

“He has got a talent and it is up to him to go and maximise that talent and take the opportunities that the manager wants to open up for him. That opportunity is not just restricted to the game day, that opportunity is also every day that he walks into this building and when he trains with the first team and what he does off the pitch, what he accesses from the sports science perspective to make sure that we are pushing every aspect of his development.

“He gets that. He loves the football bits, of course he does, but he recognises the other areas of the game that he is still developing. And he is still developing but he is doing that at a point where he has got access and profile around the first team squad so we are delighted for him.”

The focus for the first team is fixed on Livingston. For McCallum, it is the SPFL Trust fixture with Alloa Athletic that takes precedence and is at the top of his agenda.

He must wait for Beale to decide which of his players he wishes to call on at Ibrox before he can finalise his own squad and his own side for the Cappielow fixture. As always, that is a welcome problem to have.

Rice has become the latest kid with a burgeoning reputation to get his shot at glory. Every chance must be earned rather than merely given.

“I don’t particularly like the word pathway because I don’t think any player is entitled,” McCallum said. “You want to try and develop their own journey, help them on their own journey and put ownership on them.

“Recognise, as much as we recognise, what their strengths are and really hone those strengths and push them. Areas of development, we obviously want to try and push and give the first team more rounded football players that they take a liking to.

“Ultimately, a player drives his journey. Every Sunday we pass the schedule of the week to the players and I was speaking to the player last week about when you get that schedule and what they look for.

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“They said they looked for the games, looked at what time they were training. Some will say they are looking for the gaps, looking for the bits where they can go and be selfish and do things themselves.

“That is important to us. If it is only about what we do, what we schedule, what we provide, they will progress, of course they will.

"But see the selfish ones, the ones that do that little bit more and push their own journey and drag us with them as opposed to us taking them, we always believe those are the ones that take that step further and that is what we try and push within the group.”