The Rangers defender became Steven Gerrard’s most recent Ibrox recruit in September.
Steven Gerrard has told the official Rangers Youtube channel that Gareth McAuley will be like a new signing for the Gers.
McAuley was brought to Ibrox at the start of September, having been released by West Bromwich Albion at the end of last season.
But it took until the start of this month to get the 38-year-old up to speed, with his Rangers debut eventually arriving as a late substitute in the 4-3 defeat against Spartak Moscow.
McAuley then played 45 minutes of the Gers’ following fixture, the 7-1 win against Motherwell, and 90 minutes for Northern Ireland earlier this week.
And according to Gerrard, he is ready for a more prominent role from hereon in.
“Yes (McAuley will be like a new signing),” said the Rangers manager. “We knew Gareth was out of condition when he first came, because he’d had such a long summer and he hadn’t played much football last year.
“He’s a pleasure to work with in terms of his professionalism and how he looks after himself. It was just a case of getting a lot of training in his body and some game minutes. He did that in the reserves, he did that in a couple of behind-closed-doors fixtures and I think Northern Ireland have managed him very well over the last 10 days.
“He was ready against Motherwell, to go in from the beginning. But he came on and put in a performance of experience and know-how and he’ll certainly be needed in the next four-and-a-half weeks and for the remainder of the season.”
McAuley is one of five first-team centre-backs currently available to Gerrard, alongside Connor Goldson, Nikola Katic, Joe Worrall and Ross McCrorie, who can also play in central midfield.
Should Rangers start McAuley against Livingston on Saturday?
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