Dujon Sterling explains difficult Rangers transfer path as star battles illness and doubters to reach Ibrox

Dujon Sterling could be forgiven for feeling a little left out as he’s stuck in Scotland while the rest of Rangers’ squad get going in Germany.

An irritating injury put paid to his early pre-season plans but the former Chelsea kid won’t let it get him down. Sterling has suffered far worse and came out the other side stronger – and he has no reason to doubt he won’t blast back from the setback at Ibrox. The 23-year-old was flying as a youngster at Stamford Bridge. He had been given a taste of the first team at 17 and then spent a season looking the part on loan at Coventry City.

Sterling headed out for another temporary stint at Wigan but a torn hamstring halted his progress for more than three months. What followed nearly ended his career. The defender was stuck by serious illness during the early stages of the Covid pandemic and it took him 12 months to get back fully on his feet. The dark times are a thing of the past after bursting back on to the scene at Blackpool and Stoke to earn his move to Glasgow. And he’s not going to let a sore calf hold him back this time. Sterling said: “It was difficult but I’m mentally strong. Little downers like that – obviously it was big – won’t affect me.

“I bounce back. Even in game situations, if something goes wrong, there is always the next game to prove yourself and get back to doing what’s right. We knew the problem straight away. It was just the period to get back to 100 per cent in my whole body took a bit of time, about eight months.

“From there you’ve got to do the rehab, then actually get back into training. That was another challenge... then playing games. There were a lot of stages to go through but in the end it worked out because now I’m here.”

Sterling is made of strong