Star told to leave Rangers woe in the past as manager fires warning after January transfer

Sam Lammers has been told that he has to stop forcing things in order to break his goal woes carried from Rangers.

Michael Beale brought the Dutchman to Ibrox in the summer from Atalanta. It wasn't a move that worked out for Lammers as he scored just two goals in 31 games and fell out of favour under Philippe Clement after the Belgian's arrival.

He has been loaned out to his native Netherlands with Utrecht, but has yet to score in his four games, although he has made assists in a 4-2 win over Volendam and 1-1 draw against PSV.

Manager Ron Jans has told the striker that he is forcing things too much. After the difficult spell at Rangers, Jans reckons the first goal in Utrecht will be key for Lammers.

He told Elfvoetbal: “If it just doesn't work out once or twice, you start forcing it. Then everything just doesn't work. It can help if that first goal is scored."

Utrecht are competing for a European spot and Jans has set Lammers and co the target of making continental competition. With that demand has come a bizarre analogy. The Rangers loanee's next chance to impress comes this weekend against Fortuna Sittard with an away clash at Ajax on the horizon next month.

The boss added: "We said this week that, whatever it is this season, we want to reach the play-offs for European football.

"We are still a herd animal. We would like to be a little higher, but more teams want that."