I was hit so hard I got WHIPLASH – Ryan Jack opens up on Liverpool clash in Rangers’ 7-1 Champions League mauling
RYAN JACK has revealed how World Cup star Ibrahima Konate left him crocked with WHIPLASH.
The Liverpool ace’s challenge on the Rangers midfielder in last month’s 7-1 hammering left him sidelined for a month with an agonising calf injury.
But Jack has lifted the lid on the double-dunt fitness setback which cast another cloud over a troubled campaign at Ibrox.
He returned for Gers’ damaging defeat at St Mirren last week and Scotland’s 2-1 loss to Turkey in Diyarbakir on Wednesday evening.
Jack, 30, said: “I actually got a bit of whiplash from the challenge from Konate — he hit my calf as well so it was a bit of a double whammy.
“I got it checked and everything was fine but there was just no point in rushing things.
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“I’m fully fit now and I feel good. It was good to get some minutes for Scotland too.”
National boss Steve Clarke was keen to include Jack for the international friendly.
He sent him on in the second half as a substitute for Billy Gilmour, just as Scotland were pushing for an equaliser.
And Jack appreciated the nod from the gaffer for a midfield deprived of the absent Callum McGregor, David Turnbull and Kenny McLean.
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Jack added: “I spoke to the manager and he asked if I’d been training with my club and if I was fit.
“I was and I wanted to come away and get some minutes.
“For me, it’s just about trying to get into a rhythm, playing consistently and playing well.
“If you do that then everything else falls into place.
“It was great to be in Turkey and good to get 25 minutes on the pitch. I’m just disappointed we never got anything from the game.
“There was a bit of mixed emotions after the game. We were disappointed to lose but they’re a good side and the conditions were tough — it was a difficult pitch and they were a hostile crowd.
“In the end, we created enough chances to possibly get something from the game.
“The positives from it were the way we reacted to going 2-0 down against a good side.
“It’s quite easy to go into your shell, concede more and be under more pressure. But I thought we answered it well.
“John McGinn had a great strike that got us back into the game and we went on to create two or three more chances. It’s disappointing because we never like losing.
“We were on a good run with four unbeaten but, when we meet up in March, it’s important we put this right.”
Jack will now have a break before returning to action after a stop-start opening to the season which has seen him play the full 90 for Rangers just three times.
The former Aberdeen favourite has also only started nine of their 27 games. He will be hoping to lift some of the pressure sitting on Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s shoulders, with the Ibrox side falling nine points adrift of Premiership leaders Celtic.
A worst-ever Champions League campaign — including the rout by Liverpool when Jack got injured — has added to the heat.
And Jack admits his mood wasn’t exactly lightened by the defeat in Turkey — or seeing what Scotland were missing when he watched Gers team-mate Borna Barisic head for the World Cup finals in Qatar with Croatia.
However, Jack — whose deal at Ibrox runs out next summer — is now eyeing the finals of the Euros in 2024.
He sees the showpiece in Germany as his big chance to make up for missing out on the last European Championships with a muscle injury.
He said: “I was saying that to someone before the World Cup break.
“The boys have got a couple of weeks off at club level, some of them are going to the World Cup, some have got friendly internationals.
“For me it was a great time to go away with Scotland, do some training and get some minutes.
“I’m looking forward to March now, when we play Cyprus and Spain in the first qualifiers.
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“And before that I’ll watch the World Cup because one of our players is at the competition for his country.
“I missed the last Euros but being back at a finals is the aim for the whole squad.
“We all want to go in with a positive mindset. We’re in a tough group for the 2024 finals, we’ll be facing top-quality sides and players, but this team, this squad, have shown before that we can play against good sides and get results.
“So hopefully in the next campaign we can do that.
“It was hard to miss out the last time with injury, it would have been the highlight of my career.
“But it is what it is, injuries are part of the game and you’ve got to take your medicine.
“I was gutted to miss out but I supported the boys at the games and I’m hoping to put that right in the next campaign.
“I think we should be enthusiastic about the qualifiers, that’s the way you’ve always got to be.
“We’ve got a top quality side, a group of players who are playing at a very high club level.
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“I don’t see why we shouldn’t be going into these games with optimism.”
After taking on the Cypriots and Spanish at home, Clarke’s men face a June double-header with Erling Haaland’s Norway away and then Georgia at home.
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