Sterling has winning mentality as he teams up with Beale

Dujon Sterling insists he is bringing a “winning mentality” to Rangers as he teams up again with Michael Beale.

The 23-year-old defender officially joined the Light Blues from Chelsea on a four-year deal on July 1.

Sterling began his career at the Stamford Bridge club – where he was first coached by the Rangers boss – and had loans spells with Coventry, Wigan, Blackpool and Stoke.

The former England Under-20 player had “quite a few clubs” interested in signing him this summer but he opted to join Beale who is revamping the Gers squad.

Speaking before Rangers’ trip to Germany for a pre-season training camp, which he missed with a knock reportedly not deemed serious, Sterling said: “The first time I ever met him (Beale) I was about seven or eight. At Chelsea you start in development at six and you do that for two years then you join the academy at under-eight.

“He was head of south London – I am from north London – and he was dealing with the under-14s and I was under-13 and I used to play one (year) up with his boys’ age group.

“That’s when I first got coached by him.

“At Chelsea, everything was about winning. You couldn’t take second place. We always had to win and I feel it here as well. You need to win.

“None of my loans have been with winning teams. You have had to dig deep.

“So I have got that mentality, I have the winning mentality and it is now putting them both together to create something here to get the next trophy.”

Sterling, primarily a right-back but who can play on the left, will in the first instance battle with Rangers captain James Tavernier for a starting place but is not fazed by the prospect.

He said: “It is about competing together but I am not just tied down to one role.

“I can play many roles so I don’t fear Tav being the captain, it is about competition.

“You need competition all over the pitch, that’s how everyone will get better. No one slips up, that’s how you stay a winning team and you need that the whole season, plus there is more than one game per week.

“I like to prioritise on my defending. It is really important.

“A lot of defenders now, right-backs, left-backs, they get judged on their stats up the pitch but defensively they are not great.

“So I like to do my defending, win my one-to-one battles and when the chance arrives to go forward, do that and help the team but knowing that my team-mates and manager has trust in me to be able to defend.”