Rangers loanee Joe Worrall has described his spell at Ibrox as “crazy”.
The Nottingham Forest centre-back – who returned south of the border following the Gers’ 2-1 defeat to Kilmarnock last Sunday – was brought in by Steven Gerrard last summer as defensive backup.
The 22-year-old eventually proved an impressive loan signing, as he made 21 Premiership appearances and kept Nikola Katic, signed on a permanent deal by Gerrard – , out of the team.
Speaking to the Daily Record about settling back in at Forest, Worrall also reflected on his time at Ibrox.
“I want to come back and show what I can do again. I have improved so much as a player and a person, being up in Scotland. The experience has put me in good stead,” the Englishman said.
“There is big pressure at Forest and I know a lot of the fans here, because I have grown up with them and I have been at the club for a long while.
“But at Rangers it is on a different level. It is religion, politics and football all rolled into one. It can be crazy.”
OPINION
Worrall’s quotes here suggest that he was quite taken aback by the Premiership and its intensity and physicality, but it certainly didn’t show during his loan spell. The centre-back came in and handled himself reasonably well, although he wasn’t always a fan favourite. He managed to keep Katic out of the team for a good while, though, and that’s suggests Gerrard thought he was doing something right. As the 22-year-old himself says, this move to Rangers has helped him develop as a player and it’s a spell which – overall – has worked out well for both parties. Forest will welcome Worrall o back to Nottingham now with the player fresh and raring to go for the pre-season and season that lies ahead, having taken on a tough challenge in Scotland and had a fantastic go at it. As he said himself, the game in Scotland can be quite “crazy” and that’s been evident in the recent explosive Old Firm games. The Championship is a tough old league but it doesn’t throw up any fixtures with that sort of intensity.