John Lundstram has admitted that the level of scrutiny on performance at Rangers has taken him aback [RangersTV].
Lundstram joined the club in July 2021 and since then, he’s had plenty of ups and downs.
A needless red card in a Europa League playoff against Alashkert constituted a dreadful start, but he recovered to deliver a brilliant Man of the Match display at Dundee in September, before soon falling out of favour again.
The 27-year-old midfielder impressed after receiving a rare start against Hearts on Sunday, though, and is likely to keep his place for the visit of Hibs on Wednesday night.
In the pre-match press conference on Tuesday, he was asked if the scale of reaction to performances both in the traditional media and from fans online in Scotland had come as a shock.
“It’s definitely, definitely bigger at Rangers,” said Lundstram with a laugh [RangersTV]. “I knew how big a club it was before I joined but I didn’t quite realise it is as big as it is and the scrutiny you come under to perform.”
“Of course you get that at other clubs and you’ve got to perform week in week out wherever you’re at, but a club like Rangers – it’s such a big club that it’s hard to put into words really.”
Time for Lundstram to kick on at Rangers
That omnipresent pressure to deliver that Lundstram referred to was raised a notch again going into the weekend fixture against Hearts, given the manner of the Old Firm defeat just a few days earlier.
It’s a good sign that the ex-Sheffield United and Oxford United star was able to handle that and go on to deliver a strong individual display.
He was linked with a move away from the club in January [Daily Record] but it was the right decision to hold onto him, as he does add something different to the Rangers midfield when he’s on song.
The challenge for him now is to nail down a spot and to produce top-class displays week after week.
He knows it’s the only way that he’ll be fully accepted by the demanding Ibrox faithful.
Meanwhile, here are three things we learned from Rangers’ UEFA Youth League defeat to Sevilla.
