RUSSELL MARTIN hopes he has done enough at Ibrox to earn a new Rangers deal.
The defender moved north of the border in January as he made the loan switch from Championship side Norwich.
And he has quickly become a key part of Graeme Murty’s plans and settled into a Gers centre-back slot.
Read more: Graeme Murty: Margins between Rangers & Celtic are smaller than ever ahead of Old Firm clash
Martin will be part of the squad for the Scottish Cup semi-final with Celtic at Hampden tomorrow.
The Light Blues also have their sights set on second spot in the Premiership in the coming weeks.
And Martin is eager to play his part on and off the field to prove his worth at Ibrox.
He said: “The powers that be here know what I want.
“They see what I have added, not just on the pitch, but off it as well, which is a big thing. It won’t be my decision.
“Hopefully I will have a decision to make in the summer. I am still contracted to Norwich.
“There will be lots of ifs, buts and maybes, but my intention has been the same since I started here - to prove that I am worthy of staying here. Games like this will only help that by playing well.
“I have left it to my agent mostly. I speak to Mark when I see him and I obviously speak to the manager quite regularly.
“I think they are fairly satisfied with what I have brought on the pitch, especially off it as well.
Read more: Hamburg went against Rangers wishes over David Bates says Graeme Murty
“There is loads of room for improvement as a team, myself included, but I think we have done alright. I’ve been in for [ten] league games and kept four clean sheets.
“Apart from the Hamilton debacle, I am quite satisfied with how I am playing. I think I have got better.
“The injury was a bit of a setback but I felt good on Saturday, I played well and I need to carry that into this one.
“I am quite relaxed about it. I’m experienced enough to know that things in football can change quite quickly, but they know my intentions and I’ve got good relationships with the people here in the short time I’ve been here.
“We’ll just have to wait and see. I just need to play well on the pitch. It’s as simple as that.”
The semi-final showdown with Celtic could prove to be a defining one for Rangers and boss Murty as he looks to lead his side to within 90 minutes of a winner’s medal.
Defeat to their Glasgow rivals at Ibrox last month ended any faint hopes the Light Blues had about challenging for the Premiership silverware this term.
But Martin is confident there will be further opportunities for glory going forward.
Read more: Graeme Murty: Margins between Rangers & Celtic are smaller than ever ahead of Old Firm clash
He said: “I just see the potential here to be successful. I like the mentality where every week is a massive game for this football club.
“You need to win games. I love that pressure of playing games like this Sunday.
“I’d love to play those sort of games every week. As a footballer, it’s what you want, a different challenge.
“The challenge is to win trophies. I’d love to be part of winning trophies when this club is rocking and rolling as it has done in the past. I think the potential is here. The facilities are brilliant.
“We have some really good people at the club. I have developed some good relationships in a short space of time.
“I see some of the young players coming through and they are positive times I think. We need to cement that and make sure people understand and realise that by winning games like Sunday’s.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel