Lewis Mayo has opened up on the advice Rangers star man Connor Goldson has given him as he prepares for a season in the Scottish Premiership with Kilmarnock.
The young Light Blues defender joined Derek McInnes' side for the new campaign following their promotion back to Scotland's top flight. He impressed during his time on loan at Championship outfit, Partick Thistle and he has now been given the chance to gain valuable top team minutes in the league above.
Youngster Mayo has admitted Goldson - who handed Giovanni van Bronckhorst a major pre-season boost by penning a new long-term deal - has shared all his experiences with the stopper and explained what sort of mentality is required to succeed. He has prepared the 22-year-old for the fact that mistakes happen and that you need to get over them very quickly to go on and succeed.
The highly-rated defender signed a new contract until 2024 before heading for Rugby Park and he can't wait to get started while he namechecked another former Rangers star who was a major influence on him.
He told the Daily Record: “At Rangers, I was lucky to be about some big names and some very good players. You get to test yourself against them in pre-season and in training.
As a young player it is about taking bits of information whenever you can. Connor was a really good one for me. Being a centre back and playing alongside him in pre-season was so helpful.
“He would talk to me about his experiences when he was my age. He would tell me what things helped him get to where he is at. He would speak to me about the type of mentality that is required.
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“When someone like Connor speaks with you it helps your confidence and builds up your belief. It means a lot just to get the respect of the senior players. Having those conversations and getting those sorts of nuggets from them was great.
“It gives you that added push to make sure you step forward. One thing Connor always said to me was that you had to have a robust mentality.
“You have to accept that you will make mistakes. If you are a centre half or a goalkeeper there are consequences when you make mistakes.
If you want to succeed then you need to be able to handle it and look past it very quickly. It is all about getting experience of playing games and learning from your mistakes.”
Mayo added: “Jermain was another one who I trained against and was good with his time. He was an older, experienced player who had so much good advice for the young players.
"He was definitely a challenge to play against. The main thing from him was that he would tell us all about our good attributes and qualities, but he would always stress to work really hard and to always be humble.
“He would urge us to chase our dreams and to play at the highest level we could. That is the only way you learn, by taking little bits from the older players and the staff. It is about listening to them and watching them.”
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