Sterling determined to make right-back position his own

Dujon Sterling says he won’t shy away from the challenge of becoming the long-term successor to James Tavernier at Rangers – but won’t play on plastic ever again.

Tavernier’s departure from Ibrox in the summer after 11 years has left a gap at full-back that has been occupied for the most part this season by Sterling.

The former Chelsea defender is now the third-longest serving player at the club having moved north in 2023 but has often battled with consistency during his time in Scotland because of injuries and being frequently asked to operate in different positions.

With Tavernier no longer in the picture, however, and Sterling’s Achilles issues now under control, the player is relishing the opportunity to secure the right-back role for himself.

“I think there’s a lot of things that help with [becoming more consistent],” said Sterling. “One is not playing in a different position every game. I’ve been playing right-back since the start of the season and obviously you get into a rhythm. Your body just needs to play in that one position and that’s where ideally I’ve wanted to play since I’ve been here.

“Plus, we were rushing me back from the injury to play because every game is an important game. So I might not have been 100 percent but I was coming back to play even if I was at 50 percent. So that’s probably why I was breaking down again.

“Whereas now we identified the problems over the summer and now you can see that I’m in a good place. I think [replacing Tavernier long-term] is something that I should relish to be honest. When he was here, I was still playing mostly every game anyway so it’s nothing new for me.”

Sterling has been included in the matchday squad for every game this season apart from last week’s match at Falkirk’s 4G surface, which he missed on medical advice. And the player revealed he does not expect to play on astroturf again or risk aggravating his Achilles problem.

“I’ve missed only one game and that was just because of the pitch,” he added. “And that was from the specialist who said for the sake of my Achilles, don’t play on that pitch. The message was ‘3G or 4G astro – just stay away from them. You’re at higher risk of re-doing the Achilles, if you play on them’.”

Rangers face St Mirren on Wednesday night aiming to extend their winning run to four following consecutive victories over Aberdeen, Falkirk and Motherwell.

Sterling admits being eliminated from Europe had been a major setback but believes the squad is slowly moving into a stronger position.

“We all know Europe was disappointing at the start of the season,” he added. “A lot of tough games and things weren’t going our way or how we wanted it to. You’re hurting but we’re out of that now.

“There’s outside noise but you’ve got to stay together as a group. You’ve got to stick with it and just keep working hard every day. Now we’re starting to see the results pick up and everyone’s in a better place.

“There’s lot of positivity around the camp now. All the new players have been here for a while and you can see there’s a togetherness in the group.”