Rangers midfielder John Lundstram concedes international break has arrived at wrong time for him

The Ibrox club reclaimed top spot in the Scottish Premiership after beating ten-man Hibernian on Sunday
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Rangers midfielder John Lundstram concedes the international break could not have come at a worst time for him as he begins to find his best form.

The former Sheffield United player has taken a while to find his feet in the Scottish Premiership but has proven his worth to manager Steven Gerrard with a string of impressive displays in recent weeks.

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The champions regained their spot at the top of the table on Sunday after coming from behind to beat high-flying Hibernian 2-1, who finished the game with ten men at Ibrox.

Lundstram reckons there is a lot more to come from the Light Blues and admits he would prefer to keep playing rather than have to wait a fortnight before returning to the pitch.

He said: “That was big statement of intent. Everyone realised how massive a result it was and it puts us back on top where this football club should be.

“Performance-wise it was a step in the right direction because we’ve been a little bit flat of late.

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“As a team we haven’t started the season as fluid as we would’ve liked, myself included, so I’m happy to have found a bit of form.

“I’m still just finding my feet. It’s always tough changing clubs and being in a new dressing room but hopefully I can continue to help the team out.

“I’m gutted there’s a break now because I would’ve loved a game next week to try and carry on our good form, but we’ll recharge the batteries and go again.

“I think everyone can see there is more to come from this team. We’ve been getting results in the league but there’s still something that isn’t quite clicking.

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“We’re our own biggest critics in the dressing room. Sometimes we’ve won games and we know we could do a bit better which has got to be a positive.

“We’re always striving to improve and that’s the mentality of the manager, staff and the players. Once we do find that groove then we’ll be a powerful team.”

With Hibs leading 1-0 during the first-half, referee Nick Walsh’s decision to send off defender Ryan Porteous for a lunging challenge on Joe Aribo proved the game’s main talking point.

Lundstram has no doubt it was the correct decision and believes even if the visitors had kept all eleven players on the field, the Gers would still have found a way to carve them open.

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He added: “A red card in any game is always a massive moment, but even before their goal which came against the run of play, I thought we started quite well.

“Our energy was high, we started at a fast pace. Even if they’d had eleven players on the pitch, I think it was only a matter of time before we broke them down.

“I thought second half we were brilliant. We could have got a couple more goals if we were a bit more composed at times.

“The manager asked us to leave it all out there and I think we did that.”

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