Don’t expect Danny Wilson to be too upset about Rangers’ financial troubles. The 17-year-old defender has them to thank for his fairytale introduction to the first team that culminated in an accomplished Champions League debut on Wednesday night. His performance, more than any other, went some way to alleviating the Ibrox side’s disappointment in Romania, where a late equaliser by Unirea Urziceni left them languishing at the foot of group G.

Wilson is not the first young Rangers player to be given some of his earliest experiences on the game’s biggest stage. During the 1990s, when the Champions League was still in its infancy, a restriction on foreign players left the likes of Steven Pressley and Gary McSwegan with more opportunities in Europe than they had at home. Wilson’s chance has come at a time when the club’s lack of resources leaves them without a replacement for the injured Madjid Bougherra.

With the Steaua Stadium crumbling, and its temporary tenants, Unirea, hardly a name to conjure with, it wasn’t exactly classic Champions League, but Wilson didn’t mind. As far as he was concerned, it might as well have been the San Siro.

“I have to be honest, playing at this level surpasses all my expectations because you don’t expect to play in the Champions League when you’re only 17,” he said. “It’s the stuff dreams are made of.”

Wilson made his full debut only a week earlier, in the CIS Insurance Cup tie against Dundee, but the ease with which he handled it persuaded his manager, Walter Smith, to keep him there. “A couple of weeks ago, I was just playing in the reserves, and also the under-19s. To make the step up is amazing,” he said. “It’s the highest level you can play at with your club. It was some experience, and totally different from youth football. Just to be in among these players, and see what you can do against them, is great.”

His three appearances in the first team have been memorable for a variety of reasons. After his debut at Dens Park came the abandoned league match at Tannadice. When crowd trouble broke out in Bucharest, and the public announcer appealed for calm, Wilson wondered if another curtailment was on the cards. “When I heard him say the game could be abandoned I got a bit worried,” he said. “I thought, ‘Oh no, not again.’ I didn’t want another one stopped.”

In truth, there wasn’t much prospect of that happening, which was just as well for Wilson, given his contribution to the match. He looked unflappable alongside 39-year-old David Weir, with sound distribution, and a late header off the line for good measure.

His challenge now is to keep up the good work. Bougherra is expected to be back for tomorrow’s match against St Mirren, and Lee McCulloch, a midfield player on Wednesday night, is another option for the manager. Should Wilson’s breakthrough be followed by the inevitable dip in form that that tends to afflict young players, it could be later in the season before he gets the chance to establish himself in the first team.

“I feel I can play in this team,” he said. “I just hope I keep getting the chances to be involved and that when I do, I take them — hopefully with the kind of performances I’ve had in the last three games. If I need to bide my time, I’ll accept that. Just as long as I play games here and there. It’s about gaining experience along the way.”