AASGAARD OF HONOUR

Ibrox new boy can't wait to realise Euro ambition

- By Scott McDermott

THEY’VE done it so often already this season that Rangers fans might have turned the art of clutching at straws into an Olympic sport.

It has been that kind of start to Russell Martin’s tenure at Ibrox.

Despite tentative progress in the Champions League, they’ve toiled in the Premiership.

And Saturday's laboured 4-2 win over Alloa in the last 16 of the Premier Sports Cup did nothing to excite or encourage a home support craving success.

Under Martin — with his own style of play — the punters are just desperate to cling on to something.

Anything that offers a shred of optimism and positivity about where this team is actually going.

And Thelo Aasgaard might just be that beacon of hope for them.

The 23-year-old Scouser arrived from Luton in the summer as one of Martin’s major signings.

Not only did he shine in the Championship after leaving Anfield as a kid, he’s now a Norway international alongside the likes of Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard. So there was expectation on his shoulders.

But before he could get going, a preseason thigh injury stopped him in his tracks and left supporters praying it wasn’t serious.