James Sands has been hailed for his 'leadership' in the New York City side as he played a key role on his return against Chicago Fire.
The former Rangers loanee had his time in Glasgow cut short by Michael Beale to allow him to return to the MLS for the new campaign getting underway as his revamp at the club gets underway with a view to the summer. He penned a new long-term deal on his arrival back to his parent club despite interest elsewhere in Europe and was instantly thrown-in from the off.
Nick Cushing was full of praise for his new leader who was constantly talking and solving in game issues throughout his spell on the pitch. His time at Rangers has also added a new found 'maturity' to his game due to his experiences not only in the domestic game but also in the Champions League and Europa League. He was unable to see out the full 90 minutes with his withdrawal the game-changer with Fire levelling late on to secure a point.
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Speaking to New York City's website, Cushing gushed over Sands. He said: “I think you see he gives us control in the game, you can see his understanding of how we want to play, and how he really contributes to our build-up.
“I can see the maturity that he's gained being over in Scotland, and playing in Champions League, and the Europa League, and in the Scottish Premier League. He's constantly talking, and he's solving problems; he's helping other guys, and definitely taking a leadership role in the team.
“You see what he brings us, and how he controls the game – he regains the ball a lot, he's in the right positions for most of the game. He keeps the ball for periods so that we don't have to defend our goal because we have the ball."
Sands had to go off heading into the final 20 minutes, but his club boss has confirmed it is nothing too serious and more down to his lack of action at Rangers in the latter stages of his time at the Ibrox club.
He continued: "He was just cramping. He hasn't played a lot of football over the last two, three months, and we know the nature of MLS is very intense. He started cramping and in the end, he needed to come off.
“We lost a little bit of control in the game when he went off but hopefully, he'll be back next week and will keep going. It's a sudden one where Justin [Haak] has to go into the game. Of course, he’s warmed-up but he has to go into the game quickly."
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