I’VE USED THETIMETO CATCH UP
GRAHAM DORRANS admits the one positive from his longest spell on the sidelines was it gave him the chance to mug up on Graeme Murty’s methods.
And the Rangers star reckons that’s why he has easily slotted back into the top team ahead of Sunday’s crunch Scottish Cup semifinal with Celtic.
The midfielder was crocked in the final game of Pedro Caixinha’s reign as Kilmarnock stunned Gers by claiming a last-gasp leveller in a 1-1 Ibrox draw.
Murty then took over as Dorrans recuperated from ankle surgery and the former West Brom star made sure he kept a close eye on how his new gaffer operated.
The 30-year-old knew he would be rusty when he finally got the chance to play under Murty against Motherwell last month.
But after coming through that game and last weekend’s 4-0 win over Dundee he’s ready to shine for his boss against Celts at Hampden.
Dorrans said: “It’s been good under the gaffer. I hadn’t played under him because my last game before the injury was Kilmarnock.
“Being involved with the boys again has been great, getting back out on the training pitch and seeing how the gaffer works, how his training is and what his philosophies are.
“It has been good for me but I’ve tried to keep myself involved in the meetings and watch training so I know what he wants from the boys.
“I’ve also been to all the games, home and away, to watch them and see how he works. I hadn’t trained with him and I hadn’t played with him. I knew him from being at Norwich City and from being in charge of the Development squad here but it’s different when someone steps up and becomes the manager.
“He implements how he wants us to play and what he wants from the boys. Keeping in the loop with that by watching training and going to all the meetings has been good for me.”
Boyhood fan Dorrans was thrilled to sign for Gers in the summer and was left hugely frustrated by his long lay-off.
He told RangersTV: “It’s been good to be back, it was a long five or six months and it was tough. I’ve never been out for that long in my career, I’ve had a few injuries but never like this before.
“I thought the injury was going to heal quicker than it did and then I had to go and get the operation. Thankfully now I’m back and back playing which is all I wanted.
“The sharpness will come with games, it was important to get the minutes in but I’ve only been back training two or three weeks.
“As soon as I came back into training I realised I was fit but wasn’t sharp enough to go into the games which is why I got a couple of weeks in before I came back.”