Ryan Jack excited to learn from Gerrard and McAllister
The midfielder has returned to training after an injury-ravaged season
Last updated 19th Jun 2018
Ryan Jack is hoping to make the most out of the high-profile appointment of Steven Gerrard as he returns to fitness.
The Rangers midfielder is back in training at the club's pre-season camp in Spain and is desperate to learn as much as he can from the new management team.
Alongside Gerrard, who won the Champions League with Liverpool and played in three World Cups during a fine playing career, is assistant manager Gary McAllister who boasts over 50 caps for Scotland, and that experience is something Jack is desperate to draw from.
"It's exciting times, and as soon as the appointment was announced, you are delighted and you are looking forward to it,'' he told RangersTV.
"Straight away, I was thinking about picking their brains and learning from them over the course of pre-season and then when the games start.
"Hopefully I can get pointers and tips. They are two players who have played at the highest-level of football, and anything I can get from them is going to improve my game.
"I'm a midfielder, and they are both massive names in football who had great careers. I think that's a big part of it - we can learn from them. Hopefully I can take my game to the next level.''
Jack has been absent for Gers since suffering a knee injury against Motherwell just after Christmas which cut short his first season with the club.
He ended the campaign with 22 appearances in all competitions and four red cards, and since his injury he has seen the squad strengthened in the middle of the park, first by Graeme Murty and now by Gerrard.
Rangers are set to return to action early in July in the Europa League qualifiers - with Progres Niederkorn, who beat them last season, one of five possible opponents ahead of tomorrow's draw - and Jack is aware that there is greater competition for places in the squad.
"It's brilliant,'' he said. "Last season - and there is no hiding away - it wasn't good enough as a squad. The new manager and his staff have come in, and he wants to bring in his own players who he feels can help the squad he already has here.
It's up to us boys who are already here to show we are good enough to be at this club. So it is good, and it is what you want.
"You want to have good players all over the park, and hopefully going forward, that will help the club.''
On his injury, he added: "It has been a long road and a long recovery, but it is all part of football, getting injuries, and it's about how you react and having good people around you to get you through it.'