Dujon the DESTROYER
Until two weeks ago, he had never played in midfield ... now Sterling is learning on the job as he seeks to help Rangers boss Clement through an injury crisis
FACED with the impossible task of dislodging James Ta vernier from the right-back berth, Dujon Sterling was treading water at Ibrox. A midfield injury crisis changed everything, forcing manager Philippe Clement to improvise and Sterling to broaden his skill set.
Until a fortnight ago, the 24-yearold Englishman had never played a game in midfield.
Now, he can claim to have helped marshal Rangers’ first-ever away victory over Spanish opposition and bagged both a winner’s medal and the man-of-the-match award in the Viaplay Cup final win over Aberdeen at Hampden.
It was Jose Cifuentes’s red card in the recent Premiership match against Dundee that changed the direction of Sterling’s season — and potentially his entire career. Already missing Ryan Jack, Nico Raskin and Tom Lawrence, Clement needed someone to partner John Lundstram in the engine room, yet saw no tailor-made candidates sitting on the bench.
A half-time switch saw Sterling refashioned and he visibly grew into the role as the game drew on.
‘I’m learning day by day,’ says the player. ‘When the manager chucked me in there against Dundee, it was the first time I’d ever played there. I’d never even trained there once.’
Since then, Clement has been working intensively to improve Sterling’s awareness of space and positional placement.
‘He trusted me because he sees what I can do in training,’ adds Sterling. ‘I can win the ball back easily, I can dribble past players and drive with the ball. I can make the right decisions, when to press forward and when to hold.
‘He trusts I can translate that into games and it’s going well because we haven’t lost yet and we’re playing really well.
‘Hopefully as the season goes on, I’ll continue to grow into a better player there.
‘When I was at Chelsea as a youngster I was taught to play in every position. I’ve been trying to think back to then and bring that into my game now.
‘Adi Viveash and Joe Edwards were the two main influences. They taught me to play in different positions and trusted me to do that.
‘Because we’re lacking numbers in midfield at the moment, it’s definitely helping that I can go in there and help out.’
He adds: ‘I’m going onto the training pitch trying to learn every day, watching guys like Lunny (Lundstram), who is a good example to follow.
‘At home, I have started watching YouTube clips of midfielders and trying to see what they do.
‘Michael Essien and Yaya Toure are the two main ones. Essien was at Chelsea when I was there and I used to watch him all the time. Toure was one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.
‘I am just trying to learn even though maybe ten games down the line I might not play there. I need to learn now and that will help me if I’m needed to slot back in there.
‘When you are playing full-back, all you have on the outside is the touchline whereas in midfield I do a 360 scan all the time to see who is over my shoulder. When I got that, I was able to just play the game.’
With Lundstram now added to the injury list, Sterling is a stick-on to start in the middle of the park against Motherwell this afternoon.
He’s not totally written off his chances of re-emerging in his favoured position but doesn’t expect to supplant Tavernier any time soon.
Tavernier’s defending may forever be a subject of conjecture but the 32-year-old’s importance to the team was underscored by his winning goal against Aberdeen last weekend.
‘You never know with football. If he (Clement) needs me to do a job for the last ten minutes at right-back, I can do that again,’ says Sterling.
‘It’s a credit to Tav. Even though I’m not training at right-back just now, I’m still learning from him every day. He’s been doing so well for a long time and I’m lucky to have him to look up to.
‘I knew my chance would come. I just had to keep my head down and keep working. Now I am starting games. I am not in the position everyone thought I would be in, but it is working.’
Until his unlikely breakthrough, Sterling had been written off as another example of poor recruitment from Clement’s predecessor Michael Beale.
Yet there were six Beale signings in the starting line-up at Hampden last weekend, with Clement trusting Cyriel Dessers, Leon Balogun and Sterling alongside the established Jack Butland, Todd Cantwell and Abdallah Sima.
The re-emergence of Kieran Dowell in the midweek win over St Johnstone should also ease the Belgian manager’s stress but Sterling is eager to play a full part until the winter break.
Sterling continues: ‘The last few days have been really good. Betis was a tough place to go, especially as they hadn’t lost there all year and we’d never won in Spain. We went there and got the job done and then it was straight on to the cup final.
‘That was one of the best days of my life. It was my first silverware as a professional and it was so special to do it with a great bunch of lads. ‘At the time, I didn’t even realise I’d won man of the match!
‘But I don’t let it get to my head. I’m just going to keep trying to improve.’ Consecutive defeats to Kilmarnock and Hearts have seen Celtic open the door for a previously improbable Rangers title challenge, with the teams meeting next Saturday for a top-ofthe-table derby clash at Parkhead.
Sterling already has some experience of
the Old Firm fixture, having been selected by Beale to start in the first meeting of the season at Ibrox back in early September.
Although Rangers lost by a solitary Kyogo Furuhashi goal, Sterling did a solid job against Liel Abada and his calm temperament suggests he should not be fazed too much by the lack of visiting supporters in the ground next weekend.
With today’s game at Motherwell followed by a midweek encounter with Ross County, Sterling is reluctant to discuss Celtic directly.
Yet he does claim to be enjoying the very particular demands of playing in Scottish football.
Signed from Chelsea after a succession of loan spells at Coventry, Wigan, Blackpool and Stoke, he was well prepared for the physicality, if not the speed, of the Premiership.
The injury picked up by Lundstram in midweek caused Clement to bemoan the aggression present in the league but Sterling doesn’t seem too concerned.
‘I played in the Championship in England and that is a physical, demanding game,’ he says. ‘Some players are just unlucky that they have got their injuries, but they will be back soon.
‘We are coping at the minute and getting extra quality in will only help us in the long run.’