Joe Rothwell made his daughter Zeta’s day by letting her pick his Rangers jersey number.
Now the new Ibrox recruit is hoping Steve Clarke will make his own dreams come true by throwing him a Scotland shirt.
The former Blackburn, Bournemouth and Leeds midfield ace has joined Gers on a three-year deal after being won over by the chance to work with his former Southampton gaffer Russell Martin.
And his move north comes with the added benefit of putting him front and centre of national team manager Clarke’s watchful gaze.
The 30-year-old came through the England age groups, winning two Under-21 caps for the Three Lions.
But with Tartan heritage on his mum’s side of the family, he’d have no hesitation on switching allegiances to Scotland if the call came.
“I’m eligible from my mum’s side, her mum is Scottish,” Rothwell explained. “It is something I’ve always been keen to do.
“Obviously that wasn’t the reason why I came here but hopefully, if it plays a part and gets me into the international setup then I’ll be delighted with that.”
Little Zeta was given the final say on her dad’s squad number. But Rothwell admits no deliberations were needed with the call came from Martin offering a reunion.
The pair spent six months together at St Mary’s after he’d fallen down the pecking order at Premier League outfit Bournemouth.
It proved to be a fruitful relationship as they helped restore Saints’ top-flight status by beating Leeds in the play-off final.
Asked to detail his choice of jersey number, Gers’ new No6 smiled: “I asked my oldest daughter which number she’d like me to take.
“Originally she said eight, I was like ‘I can’t have eight, it’s already taken.’ And then she said six.
“I think partly because she’s six. Not realising that next year I can’t just change to seven when she turns seven!
“But yeah, so she asked me to take number six and that’s the reason why I’ve taken it.
“But it feels brilliant to now be a Rangers player. I’m delighted.
“Straight away I was interested in coming. Knowing the manager was coming in as well made that decision a little bit easier for me because obviously working with him and knowing what type of guy he is and how he wants to do things, that was an even bigger pull for me.
“But besides that, the club speaks for itself really. It doesn’t take much selling to you and as I say, as soon as the interest was there it was an immediate yes from me.
“I’ve said it in past interviews, the gaffer as a man is one of the best I’ve come around and he’s all about the players, he’ll always put the players first and I’m sure the lads will get to know that as they get to know him a bit better.
“But tactically and things like that he’s brilliant as well. So I’m really looking forward now to get working under him again.
“He knows my game too, so that always helps. He knows what I can do and if I can come and add a bit of experience and help the team, ultimately that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Rothwell may have helped Martin’s Southampton team regain their Premier League slot at Leeds’ expense but he got himself back in the good books at Elland Road last year when he joined the Yorkshire outfit’s Championship winning effort during another loan stint.
Martin now hopes he can extended that winning run to the Premiership – and Rothwell has similarly loft ambitions.
He said: “I want to win so I’m a winner. And I’ve come here to win things and help the team progress and if I can bring little elements of how I like to play and what I like to do, hopefully, it’ll help the team massively.
“I think [my experience] could be huge. When I went out to Leeds last year, they talked about their promotion [bid] from the season before and what they would like for me to bring in.
“When it gets to certain times of the season and certain games, the know-how of how to get things done. Thankfully that paid its rewards last year and hopefully I can bring that here this year.
“It was brilliant at Leeds last year. The season before was a bit tricky for me, I didn’t play as much as I’d like, so I managed to go there and play a lot of games and contributed a lot. For me personally it was brilliant and I can’t speak highly enough of that club, I loved my time there.
“But I’m excited to get going here. I’ve watched a lot of games. Obviously Rangers being Rangers, everyone will want to beat them.
“And that’s why I’ve come here, to compete and win things, but I know it’s not going to be easy.
“We’re not going to roll over teams and Rangers being Rangers, they’re probably a team that everyone is going to want to beat.
“I’m buzzing to get going at Ibrox. Hopefully I can get involved in training as soon as possible and then be involved in the game against Club Brugge on Sunday.
“I played in a pre-season friendly at Ibrox quite a few years ago now, I want to say it was maybe during COVID times or just as we were coming out.
“But I can’t wait to get to the stadium and see what it’s like when it’s packed out with 50,000 people there.”
