Katic settled into life in Glasgow and the Rangers defence

NIKOLA KATIC is confident he will continue to reap the rewards of putting in the hours at Rangers.

The Croatian has made a solid start to his second season at Ibrox as he and Connor Goldson have become Steven Gerrard’s preferred pairing at the heart of the defence once again.

The arrivals of Filip Helander and George Edmundson in the summer provided extra competition for places.

But Katic – joined in Glasgow by countryman Borna Barisic last term – is content with life on and off the park at present.

Katic said: “I have definitely felt more settled in the team this season. Last year everything was new to me, with a new team and a new manager. Now I know everyone and I have a good relationship with the whole team and staff. They are almost like family because I spend almost every day with them.

“Over the summer I just kept my focus on things I needed to improve on from last season.

I am still a young player and have lots of experience to gain and improvements to make.

“I am at the training ground nearly every day, even my days off, and I enjoy it. Maybe if I had family here it would be different because I would spend some of my time off with them but I am almost alone here.

“I have friends in Glasgow and Borna and I are in a very similar situation in Scotland. He is maybe a little bit more relaxed than me but he is still a big professional.

“We like to come to the training ground every day to do recovery or gym work, it makes us feel better.”

Rangers return to continental competition tomorrow night against Feyenoord. Manager Gerrard guided his side to qualifier wins over St Joseph’s, Progres, Midtjylland and Legia Warsaw.

And Katic is relishing the challenge of a tough section as Rangers look to progress through to the knock-out rounds.

“The Europa League group looks great, I am looking forward to it,” Katic told the Rangers Matchday Programme.

“Porto are a world-class club and Feyenoord and Young Boys are going to be huge tests for us also. Playing against sides like that is only going to improve us as a team and as players.

“I know a lot about Porto because they are all stars and I watched some of Young Boys’ games because last season they Dinamo Zagreb in qualification and this season they played Red Star Belgrade in the play-offs.” Chris Jack