Little glad he ignored thoughts of exiting Ibrox

ANDREW Little admits he thought about leaving Rangers amid the financial cutbacks, but preferred to grab his long-awaited chance in the first team.

The 22-year-old striker, who threatened a breakthrough when he scored as a sub against Hearts two years ago, netted on his first SPL start of the season as Rangers won 4-1 at Inverness last month. Little has endured hip and knee injuries over the past 18 months and did not want to leave Ibrox before making his mark.

The Northern Ireland international told Blues News: “It certainly went through my head [to leave] and I’m sure a few of the others who are out of contract thought the same.

“But for me the biggest factor was I’ve had an awful time with injuries lately and now I’m finally getting my chance at Rangers.

“The gaffer has gladly given me my chance and I have really enjoyed playing in the last two games. I’m feeling good.

“I couldn’t say goodbye to that. I’ve been dying to get my chance at Rangers ever since I arrived here five and a half years ago.

“Now that I’m getting a proper shot at the team, there was no chance I was just going to turn away and leave.

“You obviously don’t want your chance to come in the situation we are in, which is as bad as it is.

“But things have maybe worked for me in that sense. I feel I really need to grab this chance and I’ve done okay in my first couple of games, but now I need to do that consistently.”