KATIC COMEBACK?

Andrews has faith defender can overcome Rangers woes

WHEN Marvin Andrews limped off the turf at Dens Park in March 2005, the injury seemed innocuous initially. Alex McLeish, the Rangers manager at the time, shrugged off the niggle when questioned about it during his post-match interview before it was later discovered that the centre-back had badly damaged his knee cartilage.

The medical team at Ibrox told Andrews that he would require surgery that would rule him out of the remainder of his side’s title tilt. He famously rejected that advice, choosing instead to rely on his faith. He insisted he was fit and available for their next game and played his part as

McLeish’s men pipped Celtic to the title in the most dramatic of denouements, in a day that will forever be remembered for Scott McDonald’s late brace at Fir Park and that helicopter changing course.

When Nikola Katic picked up an injury in pre-season last summer, he was given a similar diagnosis to Andrews. There would be no miraculous recovery for the Croatian though; no seemingly impossible act of rejuvenation that would leave even the most ardent of atheists questioning their philosophy.

Instead, the 24-year-old went under the knife and missed the entirety of what turned out to be a memorable campaign in Govan.

The last 12 months will have been difficult for Katic but with a return in sight, Andrews is confident that the defender will be back in the first-team fold before long – even if he does not see too many parallels between the Croat’s lay-off and his own.

“I would say the difference between Niko and me, because of my faith in God … it makes it different to my situation,” Andrews explained. “He’s had his surgery and he’s now doing rehabilitation. All he can do is listen to the medical advice, take his time and get back to being the player we know he can be.

“The good thing is that with the way things are at the moment, Rangers don’t really need to rush him back. Obviously he’ll be desperate to play but the other centrehalves have been playing really well.

“All he has to do is focus on himself to get back to a level where if he’s called upon, he’s ready to go. It’s good for him in some ways but Niko’s situation and mine are completely different.

“You can tell that he’s a very strong person mentally. He’s a big boy and he’s strong. An injury of that magnitude can be career-threatening, so his main concern will be that he comes back and it doesn’t happen again.

“If he was to come back and break down [with injury] again, that’s when the mental side of it really comes in. It would be really, really difficult. So if he comes back and gets into the groove again and starts feeling good about himself, hopefully he can stay that way.”

One player on the books at Ibrox who has been catching the eye of late is Finland midfielder Glen Kamara, who has brought the composure on the ball and incisive passing that he regularly displays at club level to the international set-up at this summer’s Euros.

Having come through the youth ranks at Arsenal before making the journey north in search of first-team football, Andrews insists that it is no surprise that the 25-year-old has looked so comfortable at the European Championships – and the Ibrox fan favourite

Centre-back Nikola Katic (left) has been out injured at Ibrox since pre-season last summer, a lay-off of 12 months reckons that having players of Kamara’s stature at Rangers can only be considered a good thing.

“He’s really good on the ball,” Andrews added. “He protects it really well. He loves having the ball at his feet.

“It’s obviously a strong point of coming through the youth system at Arsenal. He will have been drilled into demanding the ball and consistently playing under pressure because Arsenal have this pattern of play like Barcelona where they like to pass the ball a lot.

“You learn that at a young age and then he went to Dundee where he really developed. In my time, my job was just to pass it to the other players!

“He has developed really well and it’s great that at Rangers you now have players who are representing their countries: international-class players. I think over the last nine years Rangers Football Club has brought back the foundation of what they once had.”