 His impressive form ensured he achieved Under 21 recognition, as well as a place in the Rangers first team, by 1983; that year he scored four goals in one match against Malta's Valletta in the 1983–84 European Cup Winners' Cup, the first Rangers player to achieve that goalscoring feat in a European fixture.However, by their own high standards Rangers were enduring a mediocre spell, limiting McPherson's initial success at Ibrox to one league title in 1986–87 (his final season, in which he played in 42 of the league fixtures) and two League Cups in March 1984 and October 1984 (after the schedule was changed from a spring final to autumn).He missed the 1986 showpiece due to suspension.