Windass extends his Rangers deal after hearing club ‘vision’
HAMILTON V RANGERS
Rangers midfielder Josh Windass said he was excited by the club’s vision as he signed a new one-year contract extension.
The former Accrington player has committed himself to Ibrox until 2021 after hitting 12 goals this season.
Windass is the second player this week to sign an extension following James Tavernier as director of football Mark Allen sets about building for the future.
The 24-year-old said: “It’s a good feeling to be rewarded with the form I have been in, and hopefully I can carry it on.
“I had a couple of years left on my current contract anyway, so I was never going to leave. To get a renewal to that too is nice.
“One of the main reasons behind me renewing my contract was being told by Mark and the club about the vision and the direction they want to go in, and that’s something I want to be a part of. We’ve brought players in like Jamie Murphy, who has come from Premier League level, and that is the level we all want to reach.
“Getting players in of that calibre can only help you as a player to improve.”
Ibrox manager Graeme Murty says he is determined to drive up standards so that “outstanding is the norm”.
Murty watched with satisfaction as his side racked up five goals in 22 minutes against Ayr on Sunday to secure a place in the William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-finals.
But the Ibrox boss is more excited by their potential for improvement.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Hamilton, Murty said: “The thrilling part of it isn’t that we win games or that we scored goals or had flashes of good stuff, the thrilling part for me is that we can get better.
“We can get cleaner, we can get sharper, we can have a better understanding, we can be more ruthless, we can be more clinical. And I’m saying that as a manager who is quite pleased with the steps that we’ve made.
“But I’m hungry for us to get better and elevate our level on a daily basis, so that our norms are outstanding.
“And I believe we have the players in the squad who are capable of doing that, it’s just challenging them every day to keep them fresh and hungry and for them to challenge one another to make sure that training is at the right level every day.
“We are getting there, we are moving in the right direction, but we are not where we will be by the end of the season. We will be better than we are now.”
Murty’sacciescounterpart Martin Canning hopes Greg Docherty gets a good reception from home fans when he returns to the Superseal stadium with Rangers.
The 21-year-old midfielder came through the youth system at the Lanarkshire club before joining the Ibrox side in January on a four-year contract, for a reported fee of around £680,000.
Canning, who will have new signings Kenny van der Weg and Ross Jenkins in his squad, said: “Greg was great for the club and he worked hard for the club.
“He had been here since he was a young boy at eight or nine. So I would hope he would get a good reception.
“He did everything professionally and properly.
“The club have benefited financially so it is not as if Greg was awkward or wanted to force a move. It was an offer that came in and the club negotiated and got it to where they thought it was fair and Greg moved on. That is part of the process and that is football, people move on and come back and play against you. For me, I hope he gets a good reception.”
Accies have lost all four of their league and cup games in 2018 and Canning is looking for a turnaround.
He said: “We need it. It has been a difficult start. We have players in and players fit again so I am looking forward to the run in and we have to start putting points on the board.”