Mohamed Diomande has described his new Rangers team-mate Cammy Devlin as "contagious", praising the Australian's ability to lift the entire squad with his relentless energy and tenacity.
Devlin, who joined Rangers on a free transfer from Hearts, impressed in Sunday's goalless pre-season friendly against West Ham at Ibrox. For 45 minutes, he set the tempo in midfield, pressing opponents and urging his team-mates to raise their intensity whenever the game threatened to drift.
Diomande: Better to play with him than against him
Diomande, who has faced Devlin in the Scottish Premiership, is relieved to now have him on the same side. "Yeah, it's definitely better to play with him," he said. "Since he came in, he's been a guy who really pushes people and doesn't need to talk too much. When you see him run, it's effective. It's contagious. If I see him do that, I'm like: 'Yeah, I want to do the same'. I think it's good to have him in the squad. He brings that part of the game that maybe we didn't have and I'm happy to have him in the middle with me."
Diomande accepts criticism, aims for consistency
The Ivorian midfielder has been at Rangers for two and a half years, signed by former boss Philippe Clement from Nordsjaelland. While his work-rate has never been questioned, fans have criticised his performances as the club has struggled to challenge Celtic for titles. Diomande accepts the scrutiny but insists he focuses only on the coaches' expectations. "I know everybody has their opinion but, for me personally, I just need to do what I need to do to be in the team and make my coaches happy," he said. "When they're happy with my performances, I don't care about what happens around me. I'll try to be as good as I can to help the team. I want to be more consistent with goals and assists - and set my team in good positions."
Trust in Derek McInnes
Diomande has played under three Rangers managers - Clement, Russell Martin, Danny Rohl and interim Barry Ferguson - but he believes Derek McInnes will bring something different. "Pre-season has been amazing, a lot of work," he said. "He's a good guy, a good human. He brings positive energy and speaks a lot to the players. There has been a different feel to this pre-season. He wants us to play forward, be positive on the ball. He wants us to feed our strikers, get the ball in the box - and I think that's something we didn't do so much last season. That part of the game is going to help us score more goals."
