AS the victim of injustices at the hands of match officials, a challenge that sidelined him for six months but went unpunished and abuse from rival fans as he lay injured on a stretcher, nobody could blame Ryan Jack for letting the run of bad luck he has suffered in the past year or so get to him.
Yet, Jack is looking ahead with optimism and is hopeful his inclusion, albeit belatedly, in the Scotland squad for the matches against Belgium at Hampden this Friday and Albania at the same venue next Monday is the start of a better spell for him, including at international level.
Being involved with his country in the coming days will certainly help the Rangers midfielder get the disappointment of the 1-0 defeat to Celtic at Parkhead on Sunday out of his system. “I’m delighted and proud to get the call-up and hope to make the most of this week,” he said. “You want a game as quickly as possible to get over that hangover.”
Jack, though, has proved himself to be rather adept at recovering from the misfortune he has suffered since moving to Ibrox on a free transfer from Aberdeen last summer.
He had two of the four red cards he was shown in the space of just five months last season rescinded on appeal and then needed to undergo knee surgery following a foul by Cedric Kipre in a game against Motherwell in December that was overlooked by the referee.
It is to his great credit that he has returned to action this season and displayed form that has had his manager Steven Gerrard, who knows a thing or two about playing in his position, singing his praises.
The 26-year-old admits the run, which he feels continued when no foul against him was given in the build-up to the Celtic goal at the weekend, has left him bemused.
“I was out for six months with my knee, but the referee said it wasn’t a red card, wasn’t even a foul,” he said. “You wonder what goes on in the background. Sometimes you do think: ‘What have I done for all the decisions to go against me?’
“As a player and as a club we are the ones who have to suffer on the back of it. The time I got my injury I certainly suffered. It wasn’t great, but thankfully I recovered fine and got back playing.”
Being heckled by Aberdeen supporters as he was being carried to an ambulance outside Pittodrie after suffering concussion following a collision with Stevie May in the opening Ladbrokes Premiership game of the 2018/19 campaign last month was another difficult experience.
“After the game I had a wee bit of a turn and it wasn’t too good,” he said. “I had to lie down. They felt the only way they could get me out was on a stretcher. They thought that because I had suffered a head injury or a neck injury that if I had stood up it would have been dangerous.
“I was put on a stretcher and went out the main door. Obviously, there were all the fans waiting at the main door. It wasn’t too pleasant, let’s just put it that way. You are leaving the stadium so you hear what is being said and what people are saying, but I am big enough to deal with that. Look, it is what it is. It’s part and parcel of football. You get stick, but you just get on with it.”
Gerrard raised eyebrows after that match by claiming that refereeing decisions had been going against Rangers for years, but Jack does not, despite his bitter personal experiences, share that view.
"You deal with the decisions," he said. "You have to get on with it. You can’t sit and mump and moan that you don’t get decisions. We don’t really speak about that. We just go out and try and compete in every game. I am sure over a period of time you will get some that maybe you shouldn’t get and you won’t get some that you should get.”
Gerrard, the Liverpool and England great, stating that he was “jealous” of Jack’s display in the Europa League qualifier against Osijek at Ibrox last month certainly lifted his spirits enormously and boosted his self-belief.
“It was mindblowing to hear his reaction and how much he had enjoyed my performance,” he said. Coming into pre-season I just wanted to work as hard as I could and get as fit as I could and hopefully be a part of his plans. Fortunately, I have got in his plans and I just want to keep that going.
“He gives you that confidence to go and play and do your own thing within the shape of the team to go and express yourself. Working under the gaffer has been really good so far. Hopefully that just continues.”
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