Rangers star relishing 'fresh start' at new club as 'stop-start' season has ace fearing the worst over Ibrox future
Midfielder admits he’s in the dark over his long-term future at Rangers as he makes pledge to Aberdeen fans
Lyall Cameron has confessed he doesn't know if he has a future at Rangers beyond this summer after joining Premiership rivals Aberdeen on loan until the end of the campaign.
The midfielder will spend the remainder of the season at Pittodrie after finding regular game time hard to come by at Ibrox since Danny Rohl replaced Russell Martin in the managerial hotseat.
It's understood Aberdeen wanted to include an option to buy clause as part of the deal, but the Light Blues were against that, with the former Scotland Under-21 international tied down on a long-term contract.
While Cameron admits he’s in the dark over where he will be playing his football beyond the summer after finding himself out of the picture in recent weeks, the 23-year-old insists his short-term focus is on trying to help the Dons move up the league table and embark on another Scottish Cup run.
Speaking in his first interview with Red TV, Cameron said: “I’m fit and ready to go, I’m just looking to play as much as I can, score as many goals as I can and help the team.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen beyond the summer, I have signed here on loan to the end of the season. I just want to help Aberdeen as much as possible.
“Hopefully I can get the fans off their seats a bit, bring hard work to it. I love scoring and creating goals, it’s all about contributing to winning.”
Lyall Cameron details what he wants to get out of Aberdeen loan move
Cameron arrived in Govan last summer after agreeing a pre-contract to join Rangers from Dundee last January under then boss Philippe Clement.
Following the Belgian’s sacking, Cameron found himself working under Russell Martin, who spoke highly of Cameron’s attributes and had him starting games regularly at the beginning of the season. But he hasn’t had much of a look-in since Rohl was appointed.
“It has been a stop-start season for me, he added: “I played a bit at the start, hit some injury problems and haven’t quite got back in the team since then.
“The manager who signed me, Philippe Clement, left and then Russell Martin came in. I had to prove myself to him, he was really good with me, and then I had a few injuries, the new manager came in and I haven’t really had a chance to show him what to do. So I need to play football.
“It’s a really difficult place to be, you hear yourself moaning and everyone thinks you sound stupid because you have a great life being a football player. But it’s not easy, you train hard all week then don’t get an opportunity to show what you can do at the end of the week.
“The last few months have been difficult for me personally with a lot of stuff that’s been going on, so I am looking forward to coming here, a fresh start and doing as well as I can for Aberdeen.”
Cameron: ‘I know how big a club this is’
Cameron could make his Aberdeen debut at home to Championship side Raith Rovers in Sunday’s Scottish Cup fourth round tie. He confessed he jumped as the chance to join the North East clubs as soon as he learned of their interest.
“It’s been going on for a wee while now,” Cameron admitted. “I’m just glad to be here and can’t wait to start playing games for Aberdeen.
“The club got in touch with my agent a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t know if I was going to get out on loan but once it was clear I would I couldn’t wait to come up. I wanted to get it done as quickly as possible because I want to play as many games as I can.
“This is a really big club, I wanted to stay in Scotland and show what I can do in this league again. I know how big a club Aberdeen is, I’ve played here and I know players who have played here.
“I have been in the Scotland set-up with Jack Milne, played against Graeme Shinnie, Leighton Clarkson and Nicky Devlin before. I just though it would be a great opportunity for me.”