SHANE’S BID TO BE LAST ACTION HERO
STUART McCALL expects Shane Ferguson to be fit and ready to aid Rangers’ play-off push towards the Premiership. The Northern Ireland international finally joined up with his Ibrox team-mates this week — more than two months after he was one of five Newcastle players sent north on loan to the Championship side.
Ferguson has not played since his country’s 2-0 European qualifier win over Greece in Athens in October and the 23-year- old’s knee injury had been expected to keep him out for the season.
But McCall revealed: ‘Shane’s been out for five months but the good thing about him is his mental state. I spoke to him on Monday and I was really impressed.
‘Do I get the impression he is here to play? Yes, definitely.
‘I liked the way he was talking. He wants to get straight i nto i t. He’s a naturally fit lad and seems really focused, too.
‘He trained really hard on Monday and Tuesday and is on his way to a quick recovery, which would be positive news for us.
‘But if you’ve been out that long, you’re going to need four to six weeks to get back on track.
‘So he certainly won’t be ready in the next two weeks but, hopefully, he will play his part in the back end of the season.’
Rangers were controversially loaned players from Newcastle in January, when St James’ Park and Sports Direct supremo Mike Ashley was still calling the shots in the Ibrox boardroom ahead of the Dave King-led takeover.
Th e n - manage r Ke nn y McDowall sensationally revealed he had been ordered to play all five when fit.
But with Rangers believed not to have carried out medicals, Kevin Mbabu and Ferguson have not featured through injury and fitness, while Gael Bigirimana is thought to have a blood disorder. Defender Remie Street went off injured after 44 minutes of his debut and has not been seen since,
Only Slovenian Haris Vuckic has been a success, scoring six goals in his last seven games.
But McCall now hopes he can call on a player who impressed last summer in friendlies for Northern Ireland against Chile and Uruguay.
‘I’ve spoken to a couple of lads like Dean Shiels, who knows Shane from Northern Ireland, and it’s all positive,’ said McCall.
‘I also spoke to Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill about him. He has filled in at left-back for them but probably his best position is one up on the left. He’s certainly a good crosser of the ball. He’s shown that in the sessions we have done.
‘I went through his Wikipedia last night and I think he’s played 23 games for Newcastle in the Premier and 30 for Birmingham. You don’t play that number unless you’ve got something about you.’
Rangers must pay Newcastle an extra £500,000 over and above wages for the loan players if they go up through the play-offs but McCall would be delighted if t hat happens.
‘It was a surprise to everyone when the news about that came out because it’s quite a lot of money, especially when only one of the loan players is playing,’ he said. ‘But if it was me — and it’s not because it’s not my money — I’d l ove to give Newcastle £500,000 as t hat means we have got promotion.’ Defender Da r ren McGregor echoed his manager’s views and insisted that promotion was all that mattered after what has been a roller-coaster season. ‘A lot of fans would accept i t has been a bad year and all the boys will hold their hands up and say it has not been good enough,’ said the 29-year-old. ‘But if we do get promoted, it would be seen as a successful season. I know that’s quite hard to comprehend but from where we were a couple of months ago, to actually get up would be good. ‘Winning the league would have been great but the aim was always to get promotion. And the way the season has panned out for us, it will now need to be through the play-offs.’