Rangers star Joe Aribo admits he paid the price for trying to rush back from the first serious injury of his career.
The Nigerian international spent two months on the sidelines after damaging his ankle just three games into the season and now knows he came back too soon.
Aribo didn’t pick up a recurrence of the injury but the mobility and dynamism that is so much part of the former Charlton midfielder’s armory weren’t in evidence and he drifted in and out of too many matches.
While he is now back to something like his best, scoring two fine goals in his last two outings against Royal Antwerp and Dundee United and looking for another against the Belgians tonight, he knows he won’t make the same mistake again if he’s struck down by injury.
“I tried to get ahead of myself,” Aribo said. “It was my first long-term injury and I thought I could just come back and get up to speed straight away.
“I knew I had to bide my time in the end but I just wanted to get back playing and be at my best straight away.
“But it’s been more of a journey rather than just getting to the finishing line straight away.”
