ANDRIUS Velicka cannot wait to sample the Ibrox atmosphere again after meeting up with his new Rangers team-mates.
The Lithuanian joined the squad at their pre-season base in Holland on Monday night after completing his £1million move from Viking Stavanger.
Velicka admitted he was in awe of Ibrox when he made his first visit eight years ago on Champions League
duty with FBK Kaunas.
His admiration did not diminish when he was at Hearts and he is now excited at the prospect of running out at the stadium in a light blue jersey.
"I have known this club from when I was a kid," the 29-year-old said. "I was always interested in this club. It's a dream come true. Eight years ago when I came to Ibrox, it was the first time I had seen a stadium like that in my life. I couldn't forget that and when I came for the second time it was still amazing. Now it will be my home pitch."
Rangers manager Walter Smith will check on the Lithuania international's fitness before deciding whether he will play against Sportfreunde Lotte tonight or Schalke on Saturday.
"He didn't play in the last couple of games for Viking but that might be that they were making sure he didn't suffer any knocks before coming to join us," Smith said. "We will let him get involved in training this week and then make a decision on whether we use him in the remaining games here."
Velicka will be keen to get involved as soon as possible to give himself a good chance of facing Kaunas or Andorran side Santa Coloma in the first leg of the Champions League second qualifying round on 30 July.
• Former Rangers midfielder Claudio Reyna is expected to announce his retirement today. Reyna has managed just 27 matches in the last two seasons due to a series of injury problems.
The full article contains 325 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
