ALL THAT FLAK JUST SPURS ME ON , SAYS WINDASS

THESE are exacting times for Rangers — and exacting times call for resilient characters. How pleasing it must be, then, for Ibrox manager Mark Warburton to have the services of Josh Windass to call upon.

This is the lad who ended up working on building sites for £50 a shift as a teenager and playing part-time for Harrogate Railway after being jettisoned by Huddersfield Town while out suffering from a broken leg.

Now part of this difficult rebuilding process at Rangers after a successful spell with unfashionable Accrington Stanley, it is the kind of appetite he shows that will be required as Warburton and his players try to right a number of wrongs in the cauldron of Sunday’s Betfred Cup semi-final against Celtic at Hampden.

The manager and his squad had no shortage of criticism to deal with since losing 5-1 at Parkhead on league duty last month.

Warburton has been stung by it and revealed how shocked a number of his senior players have been by the backlash.

Windass, however, laps it up. Uses it as motivation. The relentless demand for victory week after week? Bring it on, said the 22-year-old, more accustomed to playing with teams where two wins on the trot would be considered an unexpected bonus.

In football terms, he is from the wrong side of the tracks. He has not been brought up in the cosseted, moneyed- world of the academy system, not fasttracked through the international set-up by mentors at the English FA or by a major, influential club.

In a week when Liverpool joined other English Premier League clubs in imposing a £40,000-a-year salary cap on their best academy prospects — an attempt to curb the excesses and temptations that destroy many a fledgling career — Windass appreciates the journey his career has taken and the attributes it has helped create.

‘That is the problem with a lot of young English players,’ said the midfielder (right).

‘I was unlucky to be released by Huddersfield when I broke my leg, but I have seen the other side and that means I appreciate what I have now, which is a lot more than a lot of other people do. That benefits me a lot.

‘The main problem down there is you have kids earning a ridiculous wage when they have never played a Football League game in their lives.

‘They think everything comes so easily and, when they are released by these big clubs and go down to League One and Two, they are not good enough. They find it really hard.’

Windass has already offered more than adequate signs of possessing a big-game mentality.

As some of his team-mates slowly collapsed around him, he was easily Rangers’ best player in that sorry defeat at Celtic Park, contributing to their goal and showing commendable energy and drive.

Outwith a friendly against the part-timers of Linfield, it was his first proper game back following hamstring trouble. Even so, he has revealed that Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers made a point of approaching him for a word after the final whistle.

‘He just said to me that he thought I’d played really well and wished me all the best,’ recalled Windass. ‘I wasn’t really in the mood to speak because we had just lost 5-1, but it was nice of him.

‘I saw him in a restaurant later on in Glasgow. I was with my girlfriend and he was with his family.

‘I didn’t speak to him. There was an awkward wave and that was it.

‘I enjoyed the first Old Firm game — apart from the result. The atmosphere was really good and, overall, it was an experience.

‘I felt we played well in the first 15 minutes of each half. We can play a lot better, but Celtic’s goals came down to mistakes from us. If we can cut them out, I’m sure we will have no problems.’

Others may not be quite so optimistic. Rangers seem to have more balance in their team since that loss, but the criticism that followed their defeat was unyielding and the fall-out, in the form of Joey Barton’s suspension following a row at the training ground, remains unresolved.

There is no question of Windass shying away from the often harsh environment of the infamous Glasgow goldfish bowl, though. Quite the opposite. ‘In a way, I kind of like the criticism, because it makes me want to play better,’ he added. ‘It makes me want to win the next game even more, but I do think it is over the top sometimes. ‘We haven’t had the greatest start to the season, but everyone is making out we are going to get relegated. I don’t mind the pressure. I’ve come from somewhere where we went out every week and, if we lost, the fans wouldn’t cane you.’ Windass helped drive Accrington to fourth in League Two last season and the playoffs, losing to AFC Wimbledon in the semi-final. He was back at the Crown Ground — now bearing the title of the Wham Stadium — during the international break and admits that his visit reminded him that he should be grateful for the chance to play for Rangers. There is a note of caution from his manager, though, about the elements of his game he will have to continue working on. ‘Josh is a hungry player,’ said Warburton. ‘His development will be to learn what to do when we haven’t got the ball.’ Even so, Windass’s father, former Aberdeen forward Dean, stated after the last Old Firm match that Rangers had to base their entire midfield around his son this season. ‘My dad’s an idiot,’ said Windass. ‘He rang me up a day later and said sorry. He was probably steaming when he did it.’