HIS old Osijek team mate Eros Grezda may be facing an imminent departure from Ibrox after foolishly and reprehensibly spitting on an opponent playing for Rangers Colts in a Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Cup tie against Ballymena United.

But for Borna Barisic the future, after a difficult and injury bedevilled debut season in Scotland, is suddenly looking an awful lot brighter. What is more, it will most definitely be, despite a welter of speculation about him moving away in recent months, in Glasgow.

A sublime winning goal in a Ladbrokes Premiership match against St Mirren in Paisley, his first in a light blue shirt, last month and a hugely impressive performance in the Europa League triumph over Feyenoord last week have, at long last, given an indication why Steven Gerrard was willing to lavish £2.2 million on him last summer.

Rangers fans will be delighted instead of, as was perhaps previously the case, downhearted if they see the Croatian left back’s name in the starting line-up for the Group G match with Young Boys of Bern in the Stade de Suisse on Thursday evening.

But why on earth has it taken so long for a player who regularly lines up alongside Dejan Lovren, Luca Modric, Ivan Perisic and Ivan Rakitic in the national side that reached the Russia 2018 final these days to come good?

Barisic talked at length for the first time about the difficulties he experienced adjusting to the game in this country and dealing with the criticism that was aimed in his direction as a result during a chat with Sunday newspaper journalists this week at the Hummel Training Centre as he looked ahead to the Young Boys encounter.

“The biggest problem for me was that I was getting injured all the time because it is not easy to adapt from Croatian football to Scottish football,” he said. “I play every three days here, but when I was in Croatia I played every week. So playing every three days at high intensity is a lot different. It is more physical here. When you get injured a second then a third time you cannot catch up.

“It is not easy when you are listening to people talking, hearing all these stories that they say about me. I just know all the time that I have a lot of quality and that my problem was just one of physicality at that moment. When you get injured in this league, it is not easy to come back because you need to have a high level of physicality.

“I think the manager understood, but the problem is that this is professional football and there are no excuses at all. It is not a case of ‘oh you come from Croatia, perhaps you are maybe not ready’.

“It is not easy, of course, but I have strong points and I don’t care what people say. Everyone can say what they want. Criticism is normal in football. People criticise Ronaldo and Messi so it is just a normal thing. There are a lot of fans who sent me a lot of messages and supported me all the time and I want to say thank you for that.

“This pre-season I didn’t rest at all, I just made sure that when I came back I was very fit and sharp. From there my confidence grew and grew. When I compare the results of my tests when I arrived with those I get now the difference is unbelievable. I feel very good.

“All last year I knew how good a player I am. It was just physicality. So I know when I play Scottish football now that it is a lot different from European football and I think everything will go well."

So did the defender, who was reported to have attracted the interest of Besiktas in Turkey and Dijon in France, ever consider departing when he was out of the team and Jon Flanagan and Andy Halliday were being preferred to him?

“I was always determined to be here at Rangers,” he said. “There are always stories, stories and stories. I don’t know anything because it is destructive to me. I lose focus when I just want to be focussed on Rangers. You speak about transfers. I’m very, very happy here.

The 26-year-old is confident his annus horribilis will prove helpful going forward - including with Croatia as they attempt to qualify for the Euro 2020 finals next year.

“I always say that I benefit from everything of the last year,” he said. “I’m able to be stronger, be physical, and that will help me. Especially when I come to national team. I know what I need to do to be in the best position. It helps a lot in the future.”

The fact that Rangers fans now have a chant about Barisic – which is sung to the tune of the Culture Club hit Karma Chameleon – indicates how much he has risen in their estimations since this season got underway.

"I listen to this song yesterday with Nikola Katic so I know,” he said. “I really enjoy all of it and I say thanks for that, I really appreciate that. It is amazing when you play and they sing your song. That’s good.”

Barisic, who set up Sheyi Ojo for the winning goal against Feyenoord last week, is now determined to help Rangers to beat Young Boys away and increase their prospects of reaching the Europa League knockout rounds this season.

“Taking three points from Feyenoord, who in my opinion are a very good team, made me very happy,” he said. “I think it is very important to start well because of your confidence.

“I don’t know if it was my best game, but I enjoyed it, yes. European nights are special anyway and I think the crowd enjoyed this one because we played a lot of football and they played a lot of football. So everyone enjoyed it, especially as in the end we won. It was especially good because now we go to Switzerland.”