Super Eagles midfielder, Joe Aribo, is excited to be back in action with Glasgow Rangers after the pandemic-induced break.
The former Charlton Athletics midfielder was involved as Glasgow Rangers kicked start preparations for the 2020-2021 season with a 2 – 1 over Hamilton Accies on Saturday.
Rangers fell behind in the as Ronan Hughes gave Hamilton the lead in the first half, how Calvin Bassey canceled-out the goal, before their leading scorer Alfredo Morelos scored the winners from the penalty spot later to win the game for Gers.
“Felt good to be back on the pitch,” posted on his social media handle.
Before 2019/2020 Scottish football was ended abruptly Aribo featured in 25 of 27 games for Rangers.
Meanwhile, Manager, Steven Gerard was pleased with the reaction of the team, the former Liverpool captain said the team reacted well to the setback.
“It’s a long time not to play football so in your first game back you are always looking at what you got out of it and we have got some real, valuable minutes into the players’ legs.
“It was a really good workout and I thought Hamilton came and were very professional and made us work for the win.
“But the win is not important today – it is more about getting players through the first game and getting the cobwebs off and getting them a feel for real football as it doesn’t matter how much you rehearse on a training pitch, until you get your kits on and you see the referees, pre-season gets parked up and it is for real.
“So I am pleased with a lot of it, but there is still a lot of work to do.
“I thought we were very slow out the blocks – that can be normal as players are a little bit rusty and the cobwebs are on there.
“We have conceded a sloppy goal and what that does is give Hamilton a big lift, something to fight for and something to hang onto.
“We know in this league, if we give teams like that a head-start, the challenge becomes more complicated but I thought we showed character and a lot of courage to get back into the game and we should have won it by more goals – we have had chances and I thought there were a lot more positives on the second half than the first half.” He told the club’s officials website.
Rangers will face French side Lyon at Groupama Stadium on Thursday 16th July and then take on OGC Nice at the same venue on Saturday 18th July.
Then will host Scottish side Motherwell at Ibrox Stadium on Wednesday 22nd July and round off pre-season games against Coventry City on Saturday 25th July.
