An ex-Rangers star has opened up on the moment he looked at his phone with "fear" after being asked to return to Ibrox by goalkeeper Allan McGregor.
Rangers were suffering an injury crisis with both James Tavernier and Nathan Patterson out injured, and they were desperate to find a temporary solution.
Alan Hutton left the Scottish giants for Tottenham Hotspur in January 2008, aged 23, after coming through the ranks in Govan.
He went on to represent Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Real Mallorca and Bolton Wanderers before announcing his retirement come February 2020.
But there was an opportunity to continue his career back in Glasgow under Steven Gerrard's management. However, the full-back turned down the opportunity to wear the Light Blues jersey for another stint.
That's because he knew one bad performance would perhaps tarnish his legacy at the club.
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"John Brown messaged me [when I was at Aston Villa].
“Funnily enough I remember, I'd retired. So, [James] Tavernier was injured, then [Nathan] Patterson got an injury. I’d just retired [in 2020] and I got a message from Greegs [Allan McGregor] and it was strange, like “what you up to?” I was like, I’m sitting in the house, what is it? He's like, “I was just wondering like, if you could come in and train?”
“I was like, where is this going? He's like “oh somebody was asking me to ask you if you could come in and train?” I told him to stop messing about and he mentioned the manager [Steven Gerrard]. I said that I hadn’t played since the summer and he’s like “they say they could get you fit within three to four weeks” and see that way.
"I instantly kind of became a wee bit nervous. I've never felt that way before and I was like ‘oh no’ because if I go back there and I get fit and I get playing and I have a shocker, you're only going to get remembered for that shocker, but it didn't come to you anything, but it was the strangest moment.
