Establishing himself in the Chelsea first team may have proved beyond Dujon Sterling, but lessons learned during his apprenticeship at the London club have taken on fresh relevance at Rangers.

Sterling was part of a gifted generation – that included Mason Mount, Declan Rice, Reece James and Eddie Nketiah – who emerged at the same time before being scattered throughout the country once their professional careers began to take off. All, though, were sent out into the world having been taught the benefit of becoming a complete player, one who can demonstrate versatility rather than being fixated solely on a single position at the expense of everything else.

Full-back will remain Sterling’s natural berth but his hinterland at Chelsea has proved beneficial to Rangers in recent weeks given their mounting personnel crisis. Asked by manager Philippe Clement if he could step into central midfield against Dundee after Jose Cifuentes was sent off, Sterling did so and flourished before putting in additional accomplished performances against Real Betis and then Aberdeen in the Viaplay Cup Final. With John Lundstram the latest player to be ruled out due to injury, Sterling could be asked to reprise the role against Motherwell on Christmas Eve.

Dujon Sterling is likely to be asked to fill in once more as a central midfielder.

“When he [Clement] chucked me in there against Dundee, that was the first time I'd ever played there,” revealed the 24-year-old. “I'd never even trained there once [with Rangers]. But when I was at Chelsea when I was younger, I was taught to play in every position. I've been trying to think back to then and bring that into my game now. Adi Viveash and Joe Edwards were the main two influences [at Chelsea]. They taught me to play in different positions and trusted me to do that. Because we’re lacking numbers in midfield at the moment, it’s definitely helping that I can go in there. The manager trusts me because he sees what I can do in training. I can win the ball back easily, dribble past players and drive with the ball. I can make the right decisions, when to press forward and when to hold. He trusts that I can translate that into games.”

Sterling has taken a digital approach to learning more about the role, swotting up on the players he looked up to in his younger days. “At home I have started watching YouTube clips of midfielders and trying to see what they do – Michael Essien and Yaya Toure are the two main ones,” he revealed. Essien because he was at Chelsea when I was there and I used to go to games and watch him all the time and in training and stuff. And Toure was one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.

“I am just trying to learn even though maybe 10 games down the line I might not play there. I still need to learn it now and it will help me if he does need to slot me back in there. The last few [weeks] have been really good. We went [to Betis] and got the job done and then it was straight on to the cup final. That was one of the best days of my life. That was my first silverware as a professional and it was so special to do it with a great bunch of lads.”

'Never even trained there': The Rangers star turning to YouTube to help fulfil manager's wishes