James Sands takes 'incredible' Rangers mentality to New York with Champions League nightmare hailed as positive

James Sands is taking a hugely-improved mentality from Rangers back to New York City - with his boss only seeing the positives from tough European nights.

The American international is back in the US after Ibrox boss Michael Beale decided it was best that an option for a permanent move was not taken up. Versatile midfielder Sands joined under Giovanni van Bronckhorst in January 2022 and played in four of the six Champions League Group A matches thar Rangers eventually finished up as the worst side statistically to have competed at that stage. He was also involved in a run to the Europa League final which ended in a heartbreaking penalty kicks loss to Eintracht Frankfurt.

According to head coach Nick Cushing, the rigours of playing for a demanding club each week will be of benefit to his future MLS endeavours: "Everybody is really, really pleased to have James back. Me personally, I'm incredibly happy and excited to have James. “We’re trying to embed an identity, and to have a guy that has been developed within our system – that is Homegrown, that has been part of the successful years previously.

"That has also gone away, and been in an environment where it's only going to benefit him, playing in Europa League finals, playing in Champions League games. Ajax, Liverpool,

"We've got a guy, who not only is a really, really good football player, but now has a new and incredibly improved mentality through being in that environment. So, everyone's really happy. He's trained really well. One thing I can say is he's really, really hungry to continue to be successful with New York City.”

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