Michael to State a claim
Michael O’Halloran admits his Rangers career has been stop- start so far – but the winger is ready to hit the ground running in his first full season at Ibrox.
The 25-year- old arrived d from St Johnstone at the e start of the year but wass ineligible for all Scottishh Cup ties as Rangers made e their way to the Final.
O’Halloran found it toughh to watch from the sidelines, s, although he’s raring to goo af ter completing a ful l pre-season in the USA.
The winger, who came onn as a sub in yesterday’s 2- 0 win at Motherwell, said: “Itt was a big move coming to o Rangers and like any new w job it took time to settle in..
“I was getting to know w everybody and they were e getting to know me – as a player and as a person.
“But being in Americaa with the boys over the e summer has done me thee world of good.
“It was frustrating having to watch the Scottish Cup run last season. We had lots of good results and I wanted to be involved.”
O’Halloran has watched eight new faces follow him into Ibrox this summer but isn’t fazed by the prospect of having to fight for a place.
And he is particularly looking forward to taking on Celtic – where his dad Michael Snr is a coach – after being forced to sit out April’s Cup semi-final.
He said: “Competition for places is what I want here. We’ve got a good mix of youth and experience and some of the boys have played at the highest level in England.
“I want to play as many games as I can and I aim to prove to the manager that I’m worthy of a jersey.
“We’re all looking forward to that first Old Firm game in September. We have five league games before it but you can’t help looking ahead.
“There was a bit of banter with my dad before the semi-final last season. I got the bragging rights after that one and hopefully it will be the same this year.”