Rangers Manager Derek McInnes Heaps Praise on Dujon Sterling

During the recent rapid rise in performances and results for Rangers, as they turn around the terrible start to the season, right-back Dujon Sterling has quietly been one of the best performing players. 

His time at Ibrox has been hampered by injuries so far, but he is managing to get a consistent run of games under his belt so far, and is looking the best he has ever done in a Rangers shirt in recent weeks. 

The boss, Derek McInnes, has been quick to praise his player, saying (via The Rangers Review) the following: "When I first came in, I had conversations with a lot of the lads who were here last season during the early part of pre-season (so not at the World Cup, etc). 

He was one of the lads who still had a grievance about how last season played out. He was still annoyed at how Rangers had allowed themselves not to be right down the line and go to the last few games. 

He was honest enough about that and said it was down to them as players. I would like to think that the players coming back for pre-season had that grievance and were ready not to let it happen again. They had to be ready to step on." 

From there, the gaffer continued: "He did that in a one-to-one conversation. He’s quite quiet. I’m sure you guys have interviewed him. He’s quite reserved and he’s not the most vocal. You’re not going to hear him before you see him a lot of the time, like some of them (the other players). 

But he trains right. He always looks ready to train. He can get annoyed easily at certain things in terms of standards, He gives himself every chance to be at his best through how he behaves Monday to Friday. In that sense, he’s a good leader and a good example." 

Meanwhile, McInnes also singled out the 1v1 defensive capabilities of Sterling: "Dujon was always one I admired from the outside looking in. I always thought he was a guy who, in one-to-one duels, you would hate to play against. He’s dogged and resilient in that sense on the pitch. He’s got great speed, great strength and good experience. 

He understands the game, anticipates really well and very rarely looks spooked for a defender. One of the ways you can judge the quality of a defender is how they deal with 1v1 situations. 

His versatility has always been a positive for him, but this season he’s managed to nail down that full-back position at the minute. We’ve got two other lads who can play there, so he’s well aware of that." 

Some nice and also interesting comments from the boss. It is worth noting how he mentions how he has currently got the right-back position nailed. We know he can play on the wing, but sometimes playing in too many different positions can hurt your development. It is sometimes better to master one position, and that is what the former Chelsea man is doing at this moment in time. 

Hopefully some more performances on this level moving forwards from him and a number of other players who are currently playing their best football in a Rangers shirt. Let's wait and see.