STUART McCALL, the Rangers manager, admits he has been so heartened by early discussions with loan signing Shane Ferguson that he is hopeful of having him available for the end-of-season play-offs.

 

The Northern Ireland internationalist was one of five players secured from Newcastle United at the start of February, but was unable to travel to Glasgow until the beginning of this week while working his way back from knee surgery.

However, he has completed two days of training at Murray Park and McCall believes there is a possibility he could be involved in the latter stages of the campaign with the promotion play-offs starting on May 9 and the second leg of the final taking place on May 31.

"He's been out for five months and has trained for the past two weeks, but the one good thing about Shane is his mental state," said McCall.

"He trained on Monday and and, having spoken to him, I was really impressed with that.

"If you've been out that long, you're going to need four to six weeks to get back on track and he certainly won't be ready in the next couple of weeks, but he's done a lot of hard work.

"He's a naturally fit lad, but, when you've been out that long, it's not just the physical aspect, it's the mental aspect. He seems really focused, though, so, hopefully, he might play a part in the back end of the season."

McCall concedes he might have been tempted to give Ferguson, 23, an outing in yesterday's Under-20s league match at Forfar Athletic were it not for the fact the Angus club have an artificial surface at Station Park.

"If it hadn't been on astro, he might have got an hour or so," said McCall.

"We will have to wait and see once we get into a proper match, but he's on his way to a quick recovery, which would be positive news for us.

"I saw him for Newcastle, but only on the telly. I also saw him on loan at Birmingham live and I remember him being a decent player.

"I spoke to Michael O'Neill (Northern Ireland manager) about him a couple of months ago before I came to Rangers, about what his best position is.

"He has filled in a lot at left-back for them, but his best position is probably one (position) up on the left. He's certainly a very good crosser of the ball and has shown that in the sessions we've done.

"He has settled in quickly in the dressing room and, if needed, he'll be a good one to call upon."

McCall, meanwhile, has played down talk of a summer move to England for Nicky Law. The midfielder has been linked with a handful of clubs including Birmingham City, Reading and Brighton and Hove Albion with the possibility of a £500,000 offer being filed at the end of the season.

His manager is well aware of the reports, but is taking them with a pinch of salt.

"I did see it in one of the papers," said McCall. "It's who you know isn't it? I just smiled.

"He's doing OK, but I still think he can do better.

"I'm probably his biggest fan and his biggest critic as well.

"He can finish, as can Haris Vuckic and Dean Shiels, from the middle of the park. He has got his spark back, but he just needs to be a bit more consistent.

"He's quite a quiet lad and confidence is a big thing for most people, even the brashest ones. It's maybe affected him this season at certain times. I know what his capabilities are in terms of scoring and creating, though."