Darren McInally: Ready To Kick On

DARREN MCINALLY says he’s ready to kick on in his young career and continue his development in the second half of the campaign.

The 19-year-old midfielder returned from a lengthy injury lay-off in October and has slowly rebuilt his sharpness in the meantime.

Speaking to the official Rangers website, the teenager commented: “I definitely feel a lot fitter now and that my sharpness is coming back.

“I just need to continue getting more minutes under my belt and I should then be back to normal.

“[My upper body] is one area of myself that I’ve developed a lot, and I have definitely noticed it on the pitch. I feel stronger going into challenges.

“I feel that I’m coming out on top of 50-50 duels more often. I’m not as sharp as I’m used to being right now, but that’s obviously just because I’m back.

“I didn’t know that strengthening your upper body helps so much in your core and overall stability.

“I now start five minutes earlier than the boys, jump on the bike and get rid of stuff like stiffness that I never used to have.

“I make sure to do prep a lot more, and do extra stuff, just to make sure that I stay on the pitch.”

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031123 B Team Training, Darren McInally 50

McInally was out of action for 14 months before marking his return to action in a behind-closed-doors clash against St. Johnstone for the Under-18s.

And the midfielder says the B Team’s current games programme demands a lot more both technically and athletically as an individual.

He added: “It was a good start and an easier game to come back into in order to find my feet. Obviously the B Team game was a lot harder and sharper, which was harder to adjust to having been out for so long.

“It was a different standard of football. It’s more physical in the Lowland League, but these games are a lot quicker and players are sharper; they’re also better from a technical point of view which is good for us all.

“It’s a different challenge because there are periods where we don’t have the ball.”


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