Dujon Sterling reveals telling reason for banishing Rangers injury blues as he finally gets his wish

Dujon Sterling reveals telling reason for banishing Rangers injury blues as he finally gets his wish The versatile right-back was signed four years ago by Michael Beale to challenge James Tavermier's right back spot View 2 Images Dujon Sterling (Image: Kirk O'Rourke/Rangers FC/Shutterstock) Dujon Sterling believes finally nailing down his own position at Ibrox has put an end to his history of injury hammer blows. ‌ The versatile right-back was signed four years ago by Michael Beale to challenge for then captain James Tavernier's right-back slot. But a succession of Ibrox gaffers have since made use of the Londoners' adaptability to plug gaps elsewhere. ‌ He's played every slot across the back four, in a holding midfield role and even as a winger during his four year stay in Glasgow. But Sterling reckons all that chopping and changing has played havoc with his body and led to a string of frustrating lay-offs. ‌ This season, however, and it's so far so good, with last week's win at Falkirk the only game he's sat out — and only then on advice of docs who were concerned about the Bairns' problematic plastic pitch. Having come through Saturday's 1-0 win over Motherwell, he's now targeting another clean sheet against St Mirren on Wednesday - and a continuation of his clean bill of health. Quizzed on his injury record, the 26-year-old said: 'I think there's a lot of things that will with that. One is not playing in a different position every game. I've been playing right-back since the start of the season and obviously you get a rhythm. Your body just needs to play in that one position, and that's where ideally I've wanted to play since I've been here. 'Tav and me, we were thankful for the competition but the season before last, I did my Achilles which meant I wasn't able to play twice a week. This season, though, I've basically played every game, so I'm in a good place. ‌ View 2 Images Dujon Sterling in action for Rangers against Motherwell (Image: Luke Nickerson/Rangers FC/Shutterstock) 'Of course all those injuries were frustrating. When I was getting injured, I was being rushed back to play because every game is an important game here. But that meant there were times when I wasn't 100 percent, maybe only 50 percent, which meant I broke down again. 'This time, though, we identified the problems over the summer and now you can see that I'm in a good place. I've missed only one game, and that was just because of the pitch. That came from the specialist who said for the Achilles, don't play on that pitch. ‌ 'The message was '3G or 4G astro - just stay away from them. You're at higher risk of re-doing the Achilles, if you play on them'. 'When I came in, I think in my first interview I said I want to play right back. 'Obviously, I can play in different positions but that wasn't how it was supposed to be. ‌ 'But things happen. We had a lot of injuries. Luckily, I was able to fill in there so that's obviously why it happened. 'But it was last season once I came back from the Achilles, you we saw me playing right back more. Since then, it's been fine.' ‌ From being a former Chelsea kid short on experience at Ibrox when he signed, he's now the club's third longest-serving player who is being asked to fill the boots left by former captain Tavernier both on the pitch and off it. Was that a daunting prospect? 'No, it's something that I should relish, to be honest. ‌ 'Obviously, when Tav was here, I was still playing mostly every game anyway so it's nothing new for me. You've got to take every game as it comes, and you've got to enjoy it. 'Obviously in terms of length of service, there's me, John Souttar and Nico Raskin who are the longest. 'So it's just about communicating with the new lads every day, helping them. Article continues below 'Obviously it's difficult doing it off the pitch, as they're in their homes and stuff, but when they're around the building it's just showing them in the right direction and showing them what Rangers is about.'