Ianis Hagi has spoken out about his 'day to day motivation' after a torrid year of his Rangers career was spent laden with injury - citing trophies as the key incentive to return.
Hagi was a superb coup for Rangers, joining on an initial loan-to-buy for six months from Genk before signing permanently. He instantly became a fans' favourite, scoring goals in the Europa League - including a double against Braga - before the Light Blues' run came to an end against Bayer Leverkusen.
It has been an unfortunate ride since then for the Romanian; he suffered a severe knee injury against Stirling Albion in the Scottish Cup, missing out on Rangers' eventual winners' medal and the Europa League run which saw them make the final. But seeing his team-mates win accolades has made him hungry for success and desperate to collect silverware at Ibrox under Michael Beale.
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He said: "Try to get better, this has always been how I think. During my injury, I thought about tactics, and what a coach would look at in games. Right now my focus is on my fitness and building my minutes. Every player wants to play but I have to be realistic that I was out of competition for a year.
"There is a healthy competitiveness between all of the players, it is physically and mentally tough to play 50/60 games a season - this football club is not built on only 11 players in a team and it is important we have a heathy squad to select from.
"My day-to-day motivation in football is to win trophies, these are the games you want to be involved in. It is a little too early for me to play 90 minutes, but I am ready to play a part if the manager selects me. I've been looking to analyse where I fit in the team, and what qualities I have to work on. I want to understand better who I am as a player.
"Since the gaffer arrived we have been focused on our team, our chemistry as a team and focusing on each individual game. I haven't been in this position before when I'm returning from such an injury, I am doing everything possible to work on my return. I know the demands here and we are judged at the end of the season on trophies."
Hagi also detailed the horror side of his injury story, providing insight as to how tough it was to come back when he had been the star of the show just months before. He continued: "Every day that I am healthy I am happy, it has been a tough year and I am still in the process of building my game time.
"My injury was more challenging mentally than physically, I had a lot of ups and downs, it is really important to have people supporting you around you. I'm still building it up, every week in training I start to feel sharper. It is a process I have to be patient in. I'm happy where I am. The most difficult thing is having to manage myself every day throughout this process, I am a guy who always wants to push 100% in training.
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