Rangers' Kasanwirjo speaks on return from injury
The 23-year-old defender, who joined the club on loan from Feyenoord in the summer, scored in Rangers B's Glasgow Cup final victory over Celtic B at Firhill as he continues to build his fitness ahead of a long-awaited return to first-team football.
Kasanwirjo limped off during an U23s game for the Netherlands against England in November, and says he is thrilled to be back on the pitch.
The Dutchman told the club website: 'It was good, I really enjoyed it. It had been a serious injury, and I hadn't played a game for a long time, so it was great.
Read more:
'It was decided before the game that I would play 45 minutes, and it was a good period to start with and I feel good. It was very special to get a goal too. Paul [Nsio] said to me before the game that I was going to score, and he was so happy for me!
'I had never been part of that group, but I trained for a bit with them during the week and I see some of them when they train with the first-team. It was a good group, and they managed to win the cup for the second time in a row, so it was a good night for everybody.'
As he left the pitch during the 1-1 draw with England, Kasanwirjo says he knew immediately his injury was serious.
'When I made the twist, I already knew it was not good,' he said. 'I had the surgery, and it all went well and now I am where I am, so I am happy. About five years ago I had an injury but it was not like this with the surgery, so it was more difficult for me to deal with.
After five months on the sidelines with a knee injury, Neraysho Kasanwirjo returned to action on Tuesday night with @RFC_Youth in the Glasgow Cup at Firhill.
Click below to read more from Kasanwirjo as he continues his return to full-fitness ⤵️ — Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) May 2, 2025
'Rehab was good, I was back in Holland and then I came to Rangers, and it went really well. I had a lot of contact with the physio in Holland and the physios and doctors at Rangers so they both really supported me.
'When I got back to Glasgow, I was almost fit and that was difficult because even though I was feeling good, I still couldn't train. When I saw the guys going outside to train and I had to train alone it was hard.
'They were coming in and getting ready to play games and I had to watch from the side, all I wanted to do was play but they all really helped me a lot and now I am happy to be on the way back.
'I hope I can play some minutes in the remaining games, it is up to the gaffer, but I will do what I can and keep working hard.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Josh Smith stars as Rangers stay hot, stifle White Sox
June 14 - Josh Smith homered and scored all three runs for Texas as the surging Rangers defeated the Chicago White Sox 3-1 on Friday in the opener of a three-game series in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers won for the fifth time in their past six games while Chicago dropped its third straight. Texas got on the board in the first inning as Smith led off with a single, advanced to third on a hit by Wyatt Langford and scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Corey Seager. Smith added to the lead in the third with a leadoff home run into the Rangers' bullpen in right-center field. Texas pushed the margin to 3-0 in the fifth as Marcus Semien doubled home Smith, who had walked to start the inning. The White Sox pulled to within 3-1 in the seventh as a double by Luis Robert Jr. off reliever Hoby Milner plated Miguel Vargas, who had singled. Texas, down a starter with Nathan Eovaldi on the shelf with elbow inflammation, employed a bullpen game. Shawn Armstrong started and went three perfect innings, striking out five of the nine batters he faced. Jacob Webb (4-3) was second to the mound, allowing one hit while striking out one in two innings. Webb was followed by Luke Jackson (one hit and a strikeout in one inning) and Milner, who allowed one run on three hits in one-third of an inning and left with runners on second and third. Chris Martin took over and struck out Brooks Baldwin and coaxed Michael A. Taylor into a flyout to end the White Sox threat. Cole Winn pitched a perfect eighth and Robert Garcia worked around a leadoff double by Andrew Benintendi and two walks in the ninth to earn his fifth save. The White Sox managed just six hits -- two by Robert. Former Texas farmhand Adrian Houser (2-2) started for Chicago and went five innings, allowing three runs on six hits and four walks with two strikeouts. --Field Level Media
The Courier
7 hours ago
- The Courier
Raith Rovers give fresh details of potential partnership with Rangers as they insist fans will have final say
Raith Rovers insist fans will have the final say after confirming 'co-operation' discussions have taken place with Rangers. The Stark's Park side have been linked with a tie-in with the Ibrox outfit under new rules encouraging clubs to enter into partnerships with teams in different divisions. The initiative, for players under the age of 21 who qualify for Scotland, is designed to expose more youngsters to first-team football through flexible loans. However, the Kirkcaldy outfit have confessed a collaboration could also involve players who fall outside the terms of the 'co-operation'. Director Ruaridh Kilgour says Raith recognise some supporters may not agree with such a formal agreement, with some fearing Barry Robson's side could lose out as a 'feeder team' for a Premiership club. However, with talks having stalled following Rangers' takeover, he has reassured fans they will be consulted if there are any developments. 'We first heard about this [co-operation system] probably at the tail end of last year,' he explained. 'And then it's become a bit more popular in conversation in the last two months as clubs are starting to now look at who they could potentially partner with. 'If I'm being honest it's not kind of one of [technical director] John Potter's priorities right now. There's a lot of other things going on, like just basically building a squad through the transfer window. 'But, completely out of the blue, Rangers contacted John and asked him to go for a meeting at Murray Park with Nils Koppen, the then technical director. 'They said that they'd pinpointed Raith Rovers as someone they would like to have a partnership with to develop their young players. 'They then came to Stark's Park the week after to have a look around and see what the facilities are like, which again they were really impressed with. 'The way it was left was that we asked them to come up with a proposal of what this could look like. 'They saw this as something where they could potentially send us other players. So players who are maybe a bit older than 21 and also players who weren't Scottish. 'It was left with Rangers to draw up a proposal.' Raith are awaiting a formal response and Koppen has since left his role following Rangers' takeover. In an interview with Raith TV, Kilgour added: 'The way we will then approach that is decided on three factors. 'Number one will be a football factor where Barry [Robson] and John would make a decision based purely on the playing side of it. 'We as a board would make a financial decision on it about how this can help us with our budget, in terms of what the cost would be to bring in these players – or maybe they would be free, who knows. 'And then finally – and most importantly – there'd be a kind of brand perspective where we would put it to supporters. 'Because this is one of those decisions where we feel supporters should be consulted. And the reason for that is we know that some supporters will not like the potential to be partnered with other clubs. 'So we would present all the facts, we'd present the opinion of Barry, we'd present the opinion of us as a board and we would let the supporters make the final decision.'
South Wales Argus
8 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Charles Leclerc crashes out of Canada first practice as Max Verstappen sets pace
Verstappen, who is a point away from a one-race ban following his collision with Mercedes' George Russell at the recent Spanish Grand Prix, ended the session just 0.039 seconds clear of Williams driver Alex Albon. Carlos Sainz finished third in the other Williams with Russell fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth. Lando Norris was only seventh while his McLaren team-mate and championship leader Oscar Piastri finished down the order in 14th. Verstappen, who heads into this weekend's race 49 points behind Piastri in the standings, produced the quickest time in the opening action of the weekend at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to lay down an early marker. But Leclerc's preparations for the 10th round of the campaign were dealt a blow when he suffered a heavy accident with just nine laps on the board. The Monegasque crashed into the barrier on the entry to turn four and sustained significant damage to the left-hand side of his Ferrari. The force of the impact sent him sideways and across the other side of the chicane. 'F***,' said Leclerc on the radio. 'Sorry, I am in the wall. My bad. I should have gone straight but I thought I would make the corner and I hit the wall.' Leclerc's Ferrari mechanics will now face a race against time to ensure his car is ready for the concluding practice session of the day which begins at 17:00 local time (22:00 BST). Red Bull's Max Verstappen set the early pace at the Canadian Grand Prix (Christinne Muschi/AP) The session was red-flagged for eight minutes as Leclerc's stricken Ferrari was retrieved and repairs to the barriers were completed. As Verstappen launched his Red Bull to the top of the order, Norris appeared to be struggling with the handling of his McLaren and finished 0.458 seconds behind the Dutchman. Piastri, who has won five of the nine rounds so far and leads Norris by 10 points, was even further back, one second off Verstappen's pace. The British team were experimenting with a new front wing and will be expected to improve in the day's second session.
