Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill not surprised to see Rangers facilitating Steven Davis' road to recovery

Michael O’Neill believes Steven Davis is at the perfect club to continue his progress from injury after Rangers confirmed they will help the midfielder get back to full fitness.
By Johnny McNabb
Published 29th May 2023, 06:00 BST
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Despite the Northern Ireland skipper being out of contract at Ibrox, the Light Blues announced that the 38-year-old 'will continue working with the club's medical team to support his return to full fitness'.

With Davis making over 350 appearances for the Glasgow giants across two spells, O’Neill remarked that he wasn’t surprised to learn that Rangers have opted to provide medical assistance as the midfielder aims to recover from a double ACL tear.

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"I didn't expect anything else because Rangers are a club that looks after their players,” he said.

Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis continues to be ruled out through injury, with Rangers looking after the midfielder's progress despite being out of contract at IbroxNorthern Ireland captain Steven Davis continues to be ruled out through injury, with Rangers looking after the midfielder's progress despite being out of contract at Ibrox
Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis continues to be ruled out through injury, with Rangers looking after the midfielder's progress despite being out of contract at Ibrox

"Steven is in a good place now, he had a little bit of trouble a while ago but he's beyond that now.

"The rehab pattern for any player is always different. We had two cruciates at Stoke which took 12 months, every player is different.

"The good thing for Steven is he is 38 but he has a 32-year-old body.

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"Provided he doesn't hit any setbacks along the way then his progress will increase.”

As Northern Ireland prepare to face Denmark and Kazakhstan in Euro 2024 qualifiers next month, O’Neill revealed that he will still be without several experienced campaigners for the double header through injury.

"None of the long-term injured players will be back for June,” he added.

"Corry Evans is an ACL, which is a minimum of nine months, as is Davis, so it will be a push for both of those players to be back for September.

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"Stuart Dallas has been out for over 12 months now so I'm not going to put a timeframe on when he will be back.

"Liam Boyce is at the end of his ACL so he should be fit for the start of the season and be fit for September.

"Josh Magennis might be touch and go for the start of the season.

"Conor Washington had his knee cleaned up and was optimistic he would be back for these games but unfortunately there was a bit more needed to be done when they went in.

"Shane Ferguson played for most of the season with a groin injury so he's had to go in and get that sorted.”

Related topics:Steven DavisStuart DallasNorthern IrelandLiam BoyceIbrox