Docherty off to flying start – thanks to Rossiter tackle

Greg Docherty knows he will have to up his game at Rangers after a bruising welcome by new team-mate Jordan Rossiter on his first day at the club.

The 21-year-old joined his new colleagues at their Auchenhowie training base just 12 hours after sealing his £675,000 switch from Hamilton.

But it was a tough introduction for the youngster as he was sent spinning when Rossiter punished a moment of hesitancy on the practice pitch with a crunching tackle.

There was no harm done with handshakes all round after – but Docherty confessed it was a valuable lesson in the standards now expected of him.

“That was a ‘welcome to Rangers’ message,” the former Accies midfielder said. “But that’s good. I’m used to seeing that sort of thing at Hamilton.

“We got up and shook hands straight away. In fairness it was a great tackle.

“Everyone is talking about it though – I did a couple of somersaults.

“But that’s all good. Something like that will only spur me on and make me realise I need to do things a bit quicker.”

Gers struck an agreement for Scotland U21 international with Hamilton chairman Ronnie MacDonald on Thursday night having come up short with last week’s opening bid.

News of the move has gone down well with the Rangers faithful, who are hoping to see the boyhood supporter make his debut tomorrow when they travel north to Ross County.

Much of that excitement is down to Docherty’s impressive statistics while playing for Accies this term. He leads the Premiership’s dribbling figures while his assist rate is up there with any of the numbers posted by those playing for the top-flight’s high-flyers.

But Docherty knows he will have to raise his game again if he is to make an impact at Ibrox.

He said: “The hard work starts now. I’ve got to go and prove myself. I’ve now got to prove I’m worthy of playing for Rangers.”