Darren McGregor grabs opportunity to show worth

Darren McGregor in action for St Mirren last season. Picture: SNS

He scored the Ibrox side’s equaliser in the latest match of their north American tour, a 2-1 victory over Sacramento Republic FC at the weekend.

The former St Mirren defender also added a feeling of solidity to the defence alongside another new signing, the former Hearts captain, Marius Zaliukas.

McGregor has signed a one-year deal with an option to extend his contract at the end of the forthcoming campaign. But McCoist has clearly liked what he has seen so far, describing his attitude as “first class”.

And it looks as if the player is determined to make sure he is in the manager’s plans for as long as possible.

McCoist told Rangers.co.uk: “Darren’s a great guy. I still don’t know him very well and we will get to know each other a lot better, but his attitude is first class.

“A lot of the boys are feeding off his enthusiasm. He has obviously come into the club and seen Murray Park and Ibrox.

“He has seen the club and the surroundings and he wants to give himself every opportunity to make a success of himself with his job at Rangers.

“It’s fantastic working with guys like that because they just want to give you everything they can.

“Sure, there are a lot of things we will work on in the future and a lot of things he can improve on but, certainly, his work and willingness to do well is of a high standard.”

Meanwhile, Rangers will reassess Richard Foster’s condition after arriving in Canada yesterday after he was forced to leave the field in the first half of the match at Bonney Field.

The right-back was replaced four minutes before half-time by Sebastien Faure after he picked up a hamstring injury. However, McCoist believes it is only a strain rather than anything more serious and he is optimistic that any absence from the playing squad will be brief.

He added: “Richard’s feeling tight and we’ve been icing it but we’ll have a better idea of where we are once we get to Victoria.

“Stevie Walker has been looking at him and I would be very hopeful it’s not too serious.

“He stayed on for a couple of minutes, which maybe wasn’t ideal.

“At the same time, that did tell us there wasn’t anything majorly wrong. We’ll have a better idea of where we are in the next 24 hours.”