Todd Cantwell made a late call. He also made the right one.

Cantwell watched on from afar on Thursday evening as Rangers made history in Seville and secured their place in the last 16 of the Europa League. Having missed out on one occasion, he was determined not to be on the outside looking in a couple of days later.

Personal circumstances rightly took precedence for Cantwell as Philippe Clement sanctioned time at home to deal with a family issue. If the Englishman had needed more breathing space on Sunday, he would have been given all the support that he needed.

Cantwell made himself available for selection, though. It was a decision he certainly didn’t regret after playing his part in the League Cup success over Aberdeen.

“Yeah, it was tough,” Cantwell said when asked how difficult it was to play in the circumstances. “It was a reasonably late call if I am honest. But I felt like I could contribute. 

“I had a good conversation with the manager and he felt that if I felt my mind was right then I should play. It worked out alright. It wasn’t an easy decision, I am not going to go into it. I wanted to play for the cause and I wanted to be a part of a great day.

“I was tired towards the end, to be fair I haven’t trained loads. But I gave everything on the park like I always try to do. All that was important on Sunday was the result.”

The arm around the shoulder approach from Clement was appreciated by Cantwell. So was the support – both in noise and colour – from the tens of thousands decked out in red, white and blue that savoured a long-awaited moment of glory at Hampden.

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For the likes of Cantwell and keeper Jack Butland, it was a maiden medal in Glasgow, an afternoon that justified their respective decisions to join Rangers over the last 12 months. Both have been serenaded by the supporters in recent weeks but James Tavernier’s late winner gave the fans something more tangible to sing about.

“Myself and Jack had a long conversation at the start of the week about this,” Cantwell said. “Games and occasions like Sunday are the reason we came to the club. We laughed and said we’re not going to be remembered for our songs, we wanted to be remembered as winners. It’s really important that when opportunities like Sunday come along that we take them.

“It’s a really good feeling, so good to get the win. It was so important to win the League Cup and be able to give that to the fans. The fans deserved that. They’ve not had an easy time so that was for them. It was special to be able to win it for them. 

“It sounds a bit cliched, but I genuinely believe the fans are so passionate that they deserve to have a little bit back. We know how important it is to win things at the club and it was great to be able to do that.”

The first medal is now in Cantwell’s collections and the first silverware is in the Trophy Room. The challenge for Rangers, both individually and collectively, is to ensure that Sunday’s success is not the only one of the season.

The arrival of Clement has transformed Rangers on and off the park and a side that were staring at a campaign that could have snowballed out of control have brought festive cheer to Ibrox. The Belgian won’t stop at a single triumph and the coming months offer optimism for a squad and a support that can now dare to dream.

“There’s no miracles,” Cantwell said. “Football can change. It’s really easy for things to turn. In my opinion, nothing changes quicker than football. I think it’s been a slight shift in terms of momentum and football can spin really quickly - good or bad. We’re in a good way at the moment and we want that to continue.

READ MORE: Aberdeen 0-1 Rangers: James Tavernier the Hampden hero

“It’s a good changing room with good lads in there. We have always believed in ourselves. We have lots of players who have been here, who’ve been on the brink but who haven’t managed to get over the line. We’ve got new blood coming in, who are really hungry, so there’s a good balance there.

“This is a lift, it’s a morale booster. It means nothing for the rest of the season. We can tick it off and say we’ve won it, but we need to use it as a morale booster and move forward. You want winning to become a habit. 

“One of the big things about coming to Rangers was the amount of opportunities you get to win things. It’s not a bad way to start the season.”