With Philippe Clement taking extra care of James Tavernier’s limbs, this really had the makings of a genuine breakout season the man who could have taken the Rangers captain’s place.
But, much to Derek Ferguson’s bemusement, Dujon Sterling’s involvement remains somewhat fleeting.
After a promising debut campaign during 2023/24 in which Sterling’s versatility and all-action aggression earned him the admiration of the Rangers fans, the ex-Stoke and Chelsea man has endured a ‘stop-start’ season thus far in the words of Michael Stewart.
And to think, with Tavernier 33 years of age and maybe past the point where he can start every game every couple of days, the right-back spot was Sterling’s to lose really.
Instead, the 25-year-old has completed 90 minutes on just two occasions throughout the campaign, and not once since August. Sterling lasted only 52 minutes as Rangers secured a well-deserved draw at Olympiakos on Thursday night too, replaced by Neraysho Kasanwirjo only moments into the second-half.
And Ferguson, the former midfielder who won two Scottish Premiership titles with Rangers in the 1980s, claims to have heard from someone in the know that the concerns over Sterling’s fitness are legitimate and genuine.
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Concerns over Dujon Sterling’s fitness at Rangers
“I spoke to somebody about two months ago [and they said Sterling] cannot play two games in a week,” Ferguson says. “Now, he can’t even play 90 minutes.
“He should be going straight in there at right-back [when Tavernier is rested] but they don’t know how his fitness is. They don’t know how long he can play.
“I am baffled. I got told that [about Sterling]”
Speaking ahead of that trip to Greece, manager Philippe Clement revealed that Sterling was unlikely to last until the final whistle.
The former England Under 20 international is fit enough to start, he says, but the task now falls on the medical department to ensure that Sterling is capable of contributing more and for longer.
Philippe Clement hopes things are looking up for Sterling
“I’m not sure that he’s ready now for 90 minutes in games,” Clement told a pre-Olympiakos press conference. “So that he needs to prove the next [couple of] weeks.
“He’s been struggling for two months. Not a big injury, but something that stopped him from really sprinting. He’s not been his normal self, like he was last season. Because of that he didn’t have the [fitness] level that he had before. That’s why he played less minutes.
“Working with the medical staff, we found a solution how to solve it. It’s solved now. He feels better and that’s why he played better also. It’s normal that he will get more minutes if he plays better.
“Those are the rules in football, in the squad. It’s about proving yourself in the training and in the games when you come in that you’re ready. I hope we can get back the Dujon that we saw last season because, in the beginning of the season, he almost didn’t play.
“I was surprised when I came in the first weeks that he didn’t play.”
It remains to be seen if Clement opts for Sterling, Kasanwirjo or a rested Tavernier when Rangers host Neil Critchley’s Hearts in Sunday’s late kick-off.
