Kirk Broadfoot may have taken his first steps towards a Rangers first-team return but he has refused to put a timescale on his comeback.
The defender has been out since aggravating a foot injury in the Co-operative Insurance Cup final defeat to Celtic last March. The 25-year-old edged closer to his long-awaited return when he played 45 minutes of a closed-doors game against Ayr United at Murray Park yesterday.
"I can't set a target for getting back in the first team because I might feel I'm ready but the manager doesn't," said Broadfoot. "So for now I'm happy with reserve games and when the coaches do decide I'm ready to be part of the first team I'll be delighted."
He added: "It's been a long time coming and I wasn't really expecting to play against Ayr.
"The last few weeks have been really hard and I've been doing probably the toughest training of my life.
"I've been running all day every day and I had a hard day training the day before the game and came in from that and was told I would be playing.
"I wasn't about to turn round and say no because I was happy to be involved and it was good to get 45 minutes under my belt.
"It's good to get a taste of it again and although the first game back always feels a little different, once you get it out of the way you can kick on from there.
"All the work has been about getting back to play and I just hope now that I don't have any reaction after the game and I can go and train with the boys again.
"There have been highs and lows along the way because it's a strange injury but hopefully this is the end of it now."
