I was sick of being the loan Ranger
East Kilbride man J ordan Houston admits he was sick of being the loan Ranger before penning a deal with Ayr last season.
The Mossneuk defender brought 13 years at Ibrox to a close last season as he made a temporary stint at Somerset Park permanent.
The 20-year-old admits it was an emotional decision to leave Ibrox behind while being on the fringes of Steven Gerrard’s side.
However, he felt it was the right time to move to benefit his career long-term.
“It was always going to be difficult for me to leave Rangers because I had really spent my whole life there,” he told the News.
“It was tough to part ways because I’ve literally grown up playing my football there, but there comes a time where you have to do what is best for your career.
“I was on loan at Ayr and I’d played a lot of games, and I was loving my time there and the football.
“I was getting the games I wanted at a good level.
“When t he chance di d come al ong i t di d become a no-brainer really. It was difficult, but I had to make that decision to go and play games.
“I relished getting my first season in the firstteam environment.
“When you get to a certain age you go on loan and play games and it’s only ok. You want to play games, and you enjoy it, but you’re a loan player.
“It helped me massively going on a permanent deal and becoming a part of a club.
“I always felt that when you are on loan at a club it can become difficult at times, but I was delighted to make that permanent move.
“You’ve got to play first-team games, especially at a young age.”
With the likes of Lawrence Shankland and Nicky Devlin coming through the Ayr production line, Houtson hopes to be the next breakout star this season under boss Mark Kerr.
He said: “Mark Kerr has been brilliant with me. “He’s talked about my development. Ayr have had a lot of players in the past who have gone on to do really well for themselves, and that did factor into my decision as well.
“They’ve got a good track record of players going on to make a good career for themselves.
“You look for that when you move to clubs, and hopefully I can keep developing myself and go on to have a good career as well.”
As he looks to complete his first season in a first-team squad after the curtailed campaign, the EK native is targeting a return to the Premiership after a near miss last season.
“I’ m really l ooking f or ward t o t he season, especially after how the last one ended in a way nobody expected,” he added.
“There is nothing we can do about it. It was frustrating, and I felt like we were in with a good shout of making the play-off ’s, but unfortunately there was nothing we could do.
“We had the capability to go and do well and get ourselves up, and hopefully we can do that again this season.
“We are capable of doing it again and the club wants to finish as high as possible.
“All the boys believe we can get there again this season for sure.
“For me, I just want to play as many games as I can and try to help the club finish as high as possible.”