MX23RW : Friday, January 31 07:40:43| >> :60:2226:2226:

Andy King to quiz Brendan Rodgers about Scottish football after joining Rangers

The midfielder has left Leicester on loan.

Andy King will seek advice from Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers about life in Scottish football after signing for Rangers.

Former Celtic boss Rodgers told King he was free to go out on loan and the Wales international has signed a season-long deal at Ibrox.

King said: "I've not really spoken to him about coming here specifically but I will do.

"A man who was so successful in Scottish football with the titles he won, I will call him and ask him about life in Glasgow, what Scottish football's like and stuff like that. But I have not really had the chance to do that."

King had no concerns about Rodgers sanctioning the move to Celtic's rivals.

"No, not at all," the midfielder said. "I am really grateful for him being clear with me a couple of weeks ago.

"He said it was up to me to try and find a new challenge and fortunately I have managed to do that – a massive challenge at a massive football club and one I am delighted to be at."

King has had loan spells with Swansea and Derby over the past 18 months, the latter being cut short by an ankle injury in February this year.

The 30-year-old, whose Leicester contract expires next summer, said: "I had a conversation a couple of weeks ago with Leicester, before the last pre-season friendly game, and they were saying after last season, when I got injured, I need to go and try and play more regular games.

"They were pretty clear with me and I was grateful for the manager telling me that and giving me a bit of time. And once I heard about Rangers' interest obviously it was the only place I wanted to come and I'm delighted to be here now."

King scored two goals in nine starts and 16 substitute appearances during Leicester's Premier League-winning campaign of 2015-16 and he admits the lure of competing for more silverware was a major factor in his move.

When asked how he could better his English title success, he said: "It's obviously a hard one but it's a fresh challenge. I can sit here and say that I have won the top flight in England so I want to come to Scotland and do the same.

"With Rangers potentially playing European football, and competing for trophies, that was really big for me. I didn't just want to go somewhere and see out a few years and play for nothing almost.

"I wanted to come here and have a real chance to try and win various amounts of silverware and hopefully play in European competitions. That was a massive pull for me."

Dealing with the growing expectations of that unlikely league success has also given King a grounding in how to handle the demands of the Rangers fans.

"I guess with Rangers you expect to win," he said. "You have to come in knowing that only winning is good enough.

"Maybe at Leicester, apart from the year we won the league, no-one is expecting us to go out and win week in, week out like we did.

"Yes, it's a different pressure but I'm experienced enough now and been through enough to be able to deal with that.

"The pressure that season probably came from Christmas time, we were top at Christmas and people were waiting for us to fall away and fall away and it never happened.

"There was pressure but you need to have pressure from yourself to go out and perform and get three points.

"You put as much pressure on yourself as a professional and a player as you do from anything which comes from the outside."

ID:368251: cacheID:368251:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4921:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Leicester City's Andy King pictured on January 6, 2019
Read Next:
Gerrard thanks Rodgers after King makes loan move to Rangers
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool22165154213353
2Arsenal23138244212347
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest2313553327644
4Manchester CityMan City23125647301741
5Newcastle UnitedNewcastle23125641271441
6Chelsea23117545301540
7Bournemouth23117541261540
8Aston Villa2310763435-137
9Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2381053531434
10Fulham238963431333
11Brentford2394104240231
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd2385102832-429
13Crystal Palace236982630-427
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham2376102844-1627
15Tottenham HotspurSpurs2373134637924
16Everton225891928-923
17Leicester CityLeicester2345142549-2417
18Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2344153252-2016
19Ipswich TownIpswich2337132147-2616
20Southampton2313191653-376


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!