Ahead of his return to Ibrox for domestic duty, Steven Davis has again addressed his contract situation and his plans for the immmediate future.
Last night, the Northern Ireland captain played for an hour in a 0-1 friendly defeat to Hungary in Belfast, three days after he was on the scoresheet as a second half sub, playing the last 30 minutes in a 1-3 away win in Luxembourg.
With that hour of game time in his legs, ‘Davo’ is ready if called upon for the massive Old Firm encounter on Sunday at Ibrox but the Ulsterman will likely have to settle for a place on the bench. Most important is that he is back in contention and ready to contribute after a stop-start last couple of months.
At this business end of the season, the 37-year old is a veteran who has been there and done it over the course at Ibrox and that know-how will be very valuable to Giovanni van Bronckhorst in the heat of the title race.
As for what happens after that, Davis admits his situation is undetermined but he wants to play on, for club and country, whether that means a new deal at Ibrox or elsewhere.
The Northern Ireland legend told the Belfast Telegraph of his present approach and mindset toward his own much discussed situation:
“(On playing into next season) – Yeah, hopefully. I think it’s important, especially as you get older, you can’t look too far ahead and it’s important I just finish this season strongly and go from there.”
“I just want to concentrate on my football and enjoy my football and hopefully I’m in a good place mentally and physically to continue.”
On his next step he added:
“I think I got asked about it so many times in the last campaign it maybe was a little bit frustrating but I can understand coming up to the summer and being out of contract and everything that comes with that.”
Disappointed
Again, frustration was the word used to describe missing several big games for Rangers lately and not being involved. In this autumn of his career, the 134-times capped international is having to deal with the niggles and set-backs that are inevitable, to an extent.
He is realistic about what comes next and the signs point to an Ibrox exit come the end of May in terms of fitness, age and the choices of the manager. With three competitions left to play for, Davis will be very keen to have a vital say in another defining moment in what would be a fitting finish to a Rangers career to depart with another trophy secured.