Michael Beale has told Tom Lawrence how he will fit into his Rangers plans as he opened up on his pre-season return plans for the midfielder.
The Light Blues brought in the former Derby County skipper last summer and after an excellent start both domestically and in the Champions League qualifiers he suffered an injury in August that has ruled him out ever since. He's been working hard behind the scenes as he bids to get back to full fitness with a new era kicking-off at Ibrox.
Lawrence - brought to Glasgow by Giovanni van Bronckhorst - hardly got to play for the Dutchman while he is yet to play under Beale. The 42-year-old expects the Wales cap to return alongside his team-mates a few weeks into pre-season but also offered caution by saying he does have 8-10 months to make up after an extended period out while also insisting he will be a 'really important' player.
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Opening up on Lawrence, Beale explained: "The first thing you do [when you take over as manager] is make him aware that you know him as a player and he knows that because we played against each other a lot.
“You let him know he is valued and you ask him for an opinion from watching from the outside.
“And, as he gets closer, then you start talking about the way we are going to play and where he fits in. I don’t think that was the right thing to do early in his injury.
“We have had that conversation in the last couple of weeks because now we are talking about what he is coming back to.
“You can see that his whole personality is changing now because he is back in rehab and starting to move in the right direction.”
He added: "His family are based in Manchester and he moved here on his own to play for Rangers. When you are not playing I think it’s important you have your family around you.
“So it’s been a mixture of being here for what he needs working and having his support network around him when he needs it. Tom is a player that started last season ever so well.
“He came in as an important signing, and an experienced member of the squad. He didn’t come in to be a player for the future, he came to be a ‘now’ player. He started the season really well, he was important in the PSV games for example.
“And then he got a horrific injury. He was on his way back from that and had some complications from that. I expect him to be back probably a couple of weeks into pre-season.
“Either at the same time as everybody else or a couple of weeks behind. But having said that he needs to make up maybe eight or 10 months.
“He will be a really important player because he is a player I haven’t had and Gio didn’t have for a long period either. He has been lost.”
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