Considering a move on loan is all about location.
Brad Donaldson had that firmly in mind when he alighted at Arbroath, a club where the young Hibernian centre-half felt wanted, where he was confident he would be given opportunities to play and where he will be most stimulated. It is also a club which could offer the 19-year-old two fixtures with Rangers before he returns to Easter Road in January.
The first of those matches comes with a trip to Ibrox tomorrow. It is a match which will feel significant to Donaldson, since he intends to use his time away to garner enough experience to make a bid for a regular place at Hibernian, although it is not without meaning for the hosts either. This is the first game in which Rangers are able to field all eight of their summer signings at the same time, after their registration embargo ended on September 1.
That will put Donaldson and his Arbroath team-mates up against all of Jon Daly, Cammy Bell, Richard Foster, Nicky Law, Bilel Moshni, Steven Smith, Nicky Clark and Arnold Peralta in Glasgow. It is a daunting prospect but one which the young defender feels he has to face if he is to return to his parent club with any chance of making his breakthrough into the first team.
"You look at playing against someone like Jon Daly, a guy that has so much experience playing in the top league," said Donaldson. "That is who you want to go up against. This would be the type of game that I'd really hope to impress Pat Fenlon [the Hibs manager] in. The games against Rangers are definitely something you think about when you go to a League 1 side and I will get to test myself against them twice."
His ambition to become a regular at Easter Road is not without merit either, since knee ligament damage prevented him from a sustained run with the first-team squad last season. "I was close to the first team, but I got injured and that was me for the season," he said.
"I am looking to the future now. I am here to play games and get experience, and go back to Hibs a better and more mature player in January."
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