‘DELIGHTED TO BE HERE’
for moving,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been capable of playing for the national team for a couple of years. I’ve just never had the opportunity to play every week at club level in the last year or so.
“It’s great to come up to Rangers, play every week in a successful side and show what I can do.
“It was disappointing in the last eight months or so not to even play or make some squads. Three months ago, I was playing in an under-23 game at Brighton’s training ground on a Friday night, so I’m just delighted to be here.
“It’s hard not playing football. It’s something I’ve always done since I played first-team football at 17 or 18 years of age. It’s disappointing, especially when you know there is nothing you can do it about.”
Having fallen out of favour with Chris Hughton, the only solution was to leave
JAMIE MURPHY Brighton. But this was hardly a sorrow when his destination became clear – Rangers. He finished on the winning side in his first nine appearances. A run of three goals in three games further endeared him to the Ibrox support.
But successive defeats, by Celtic and Kilmarnock, mean he is experiencing the pressure that comes with playing for a club where the fans expect to win almost every game.
“The last two games have been disappointing,” he said. “Going into the Celtic game, we thought we had a chance. To play well without winning the game was disappointing. It’s up to us.
“We need to pick ourselves up. The semi-final [against Celtic] is coming up and we need to push up the table as high as we can.”
A win over Motherwell this weekend will help their chances of finishing second – at least. Murphy is relishing the opportunity to return to Fir Park, where he started his career and made more than 200 appearances.
It was the first fixtures he looked for after details of his move to Rangers were confirmed. But he understands that may
“Three months ago, I was playing in an under-23 game at Brighton’s training ground on a Friday night, so I’m just delighted to be here [at Rangers]… ”