Rangers midfielder Connor Barron is targeting a “perfect” end to the season by winning the Scottish Premiership title and making Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad for this summer’s World Cup.
The 23-year-old was influential in Danny Röhl's early weeks as Rangers head coach and has recently recovered from a knee injury which kept him out of action for more than two months.
His pre-injury form earned him consecutive late call-ups to the national team for camps in October and November - where he was part of the squad that secured a historic first World Cup qualification in 28 years with a famous 4-2 victory over Denmark at Hampden Park.
Since his return in mid-March, Barron has only featured as a substitute for his club as January signing Tochi Chukwuani remains the preferred midfield partner of Belgium international Nico Raskin.
However, the former Aberdeen man is determined to play his part in the title race and catch Clarke's eye before the trip to the USA.
If you're looking for a spot in the Scotland squad, central midfield usually isn't the best place to look. The Scots are stacked in that area of the pitch.
Napoli's title-winning duo of Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour will surely be on the plane; so too will fellow Serie A star Lewis Ferguson.
Aston Villa skipper John McGinn and Bournemouth's Ryan Christie are Premier League regulars and Scotland stalwarts, while teenager Lennon Miller has featured in 14 of Udinese's last 15 matches.
As for Kenny McLean, well, he scored THAT goal.
So where does Barron fit in?
In March, Clarke named eight midfielders in his 26-man squad for two World Cup warm-up friendly matches against Japan and Ivory Coast: the aforementioned seven plus Sparta Prague's Andy Irving.
Assuming no injuries, and that the Scotland boss goes with the same split of goalkeepers/defenders/midfielders/forwards, it's that eighth spot that Barron will be fighting for.
His competition likely includes Irving as well as an uncapped quintet of domestic players: Josh Mulligan (Hibernian), Elliot Watt (Motherwell), Marc Leonard (Hearts), Luke McCowan (Celtic) and David Watson (Kilmarnock).
With so much competition for places, what can Barron bring to the national team?
"I think I could bring my energy, composure on the ball, and tenacity off it. There's a lot of things within my game that I feel I could bring to the team," the Rangers midfielder told Your Site News.
"It's just down to me performing and getting in the door and hopefully playing.
"It would mean everything to me. My debut was a moment I'll never forget. It's one you always dream of as a young boy to go and pull on that Scotland shirt and represent your country.
"If I could go and do that again then that would be a dream come true.
"The opportunity to get to a World Cup was great back in the Denmark game when we qualified and it's been a target ever since then to get into the squad in the summer. Fingers crossed, performances here need to be good and hopefully I can be on that plane.
"I wasn't born when we last got to a World Cup, but you hear stories within the family and they tell you things.
"It was great, the night was great. You couldn't really have written it with the goals that happened [vs Denmark]. It was an unforgettable night at Hampden, and it was great celebrations after.
"All the boys in the squad are buzzing to get over to America and hopefully participate better than we did last time.
"[The perfect end to the season] would be winning the league and getting on that plane to the World Cup."
Rangers held their nerve on Sunday, coming from behind to win 6-3 away at Falkirk after both of their title rivals won the previous day.
Three points is three points in a title race, but perhaps Sunday's victory bears greater significance given both the order of the match schedule and the order of the scoring.
This was just the second time this season that the league's top three teams all won on the same weekend [10/11] January, and Rangers had to play the day after Hearts and Celtic eked out important wins.
Dropped points would have provoked the enduring questions of mentality issues, but winning comfortably despite being 2-0 down after 26 minutes, was a display of mental strength, not fragility.
With five games remaining, Rangers are one point behind leaders Hearts, and Barron believes they have the correct attitude to cope with the demands of a three-way title scrap.
"We've got a really strong group, we've come through a lot this season, and we're in a great position at the moment," he added.
"We've definitely got the right mindset, everyone's pushing in the right direction, everyone's hungry to go and win the league, and hopefully we can go and do it.
"It's obviously the first time for me. It's something that this club thrives off, being in this sort of position.
"I was disappointed last season that we weren't up there and fighting for it, but we've got a massive opportunity ahead of us this season.
"It's one you want to be involved in and it's one that makes you hungry to go out there and perform and hopefully come away with a winner's medal around your neck. That would mean everything."
The Scotland international came on as a substitute for the final 13 minutes of Sunday's victory and is hoping for more first-team opportunities in the run-in.
"Yeah, it's obviously good to be back, good to be back on the pitch, training and being involved in the games as well," he told Your Site News.
"So yeah, I'm just hungry for more. I'm ready and just need to keep going, showing what I can do and keeping my standards high every day to get myself back into the team.
"It was a struggle to sit up here and watch the games, but fortunately we were winning, so it was enjoyable to watch that we were winning games of football and we're in a great position now.
"I felt like I was in a good place and in a good run of form. I was playing consistently, and yeah, I really felt like I was in a good place.
"So, it wasn't nice to get that [injury], but yeah, these things happen in football, it's sometimes part of it, but it's just about how you bounce back from it."
