Dujon Sterling’s Rangers career has been more stop than start.
But the former Chelsea kid, whose calf injury in pre-season prevented him hitting the ground running at Ibrox, may just have played himself into Philippe Clement’s starting line-up on prize-giving day at Hampden on Sunday. The Belgian is down to the bare bones in midfield with Ryan Jack, Nico Raskin and Tom Lawrence forming a queue outside the physio’s room and Kieran Dowell clearly not in his plans.
The last thing Clement needed on Saturday, then, was the red card received by Jose Cifuentes for a foul on Dundee’s Amadou Bakayoko, which will mean a ban for the Viaplay Cup Final against Aberdeen unless a successful appeal is launched. Before the Hampden showpiece, though, Rangers travel to Seville for their final Europa League group stage clash with Real Betis with only a win guaranteeing progression into the knockout stages.
That Rangers are in jeopardy of falling into the Europa Conference League is remarkable, considering they’ve beaten Betis at Ibrox and taken four points from Sparta Prague – but losing and drawing to bottom seeds Aris Limassol means everything is on the line in the city where Gers lost the final to Eintracht Frankfurt 19 months ago. Clement will have Cifuentes available for that one, which will most likely mean a return to the bench for Sterling.
But the cup final is crooking its finger at the 24-year-old after his assured display at Ibrox on Saturday, where a tactical tweak saw him play the entire second half in central midfield alongside John Lundstram – and almost cap his performance with a stunning first-ever professional goal.
The post denied him, but Sterling reckons it will come. “In training, they say I am one of the best shooters,” he said. “Hopefully next time if I do get the opportunity to shoot it goes in. I saw it shaping up and I thought, ‘Yeah, it’s got enough curl to go in’. But obviously I will need to put a bit more on it next time. Hopefully it will come soon.”
The same goes for a second start for his new club – the first coming earlier in the League Cup against Morton, when was given a left back slot. The Londoner has spent most of his career playing in the back line, but is adamant that adapting to a midfield role is no problem.
He added: ”I haven’t played there a lot – just a little bit. But it’s just being a footballer, isn’t it? You should be able to play in every position really if you are called upon.
“For me, it is something natural, I try to do my best in every position I am called on to play in. I just want to be on the pitch, to be honest. Wherever I can play, that’s where I will play. I don’t really have one [a favourite position]. Everybody knows me as a full back, on either side. But I just want to be on the pitch.
“It was good experience at the weekend, especially getting the win as well. Obviously being down to 10 men for a whole half is difficult, but the boys dug deep.
“It is always a confidence booster now that I am getting back to my best and have got all the injuries out of the way. It feels good to be back on the pitch.”
Sterling has had loan spells at Coventry, Wigan, Blackpool and Stoke after being unable to break through at Stamford Bridge. He is desperate to make the most of any opportunity he gets at Ibrox and credits Clement for having faith in him even when he was toiling to overcome the injuries that have hampered his first season in Scotland. He said: “I think for me it was just about getting all the injuries, all the niggles, out the way.
“Now that I am finally getting back on the pitch and training every day you can see what I am showing on the pitch. Hopefully I can continue that way.
“Now that I am finally getting back on the pitch and training every day you can see what I am showing on the pitch. Hopefully I can continue that way.
“The manager has given me all of the time in the world. He knew about the problems I was having, the injuries and stuff.
“He took the time with me, let me get back ready and now we are all seeing the benefits of that. But, to be fair, he has been good with everyone around the squad. If you do have a problem, his door is always open so we can just speak to him.”
While the cup final is massive on Sunday, Sterling insists the Real Betis game is the only one he and his team-mates are thinking about.
“We take one game at a time,” he said. “We focus on Thursday first and we get the job done there. We just need to believe in ourselves, believe in the way that we play, and the rest will take care of itself. If we don’t it will be a difficult night.
“We definitely can [win]. We can match anyone on the right day. It is just about whether we can actually do it on that day. Hopefully, we’ll be prepared, we will be ready to go and we will just fight.”
