CONNOR Goldson has revealed the secret to his remarkable longevity at Rangers as he nears his 300th appearance for the Ibrox club – being boring and never eating takeaways.

Goldson, a £3m signing from Brighton back in 2018, is now in his sixth season at the Glasgow giants and has once again been a regular starter in the first team this term.

If the Scottish Cup game against Dumbarton at The Rock goes ahead this evening and he features it will be his 31st game of the 2023/24 campaign – and his 293rd run-out in total.

The centre half, who completed his haul of Scottish medals when he helped Rangers lift the Viaplay Cup last year, admitted that living like a consummate professional has been the key to his consistency. 

“To be nearing 300 games is special,” he said. “It’s a huge football club. The ambition to win trophies is there every season, to compete at the highest level in Europe. It’s an institution that you can only be proud to play for.

“I’ve played in games I probably never envisaged myself playing in. Now I am here I just want to do as well as I can and win as much as I can. When I look back and my kids are older, and I have grandchildren I think it will be something to look back on with fond memories.

“It will be a big achievement and hopefully there are many more to come. I didn’t realise I was on 282, so it’s close. It will be a good achievement. Since I came here all I have wanted to do is stay fit and play as many games as possible. I have been fortunate enough to do that. This season has been the same.

“I work hard every day to keep myself fit and in a good condition. I want to stay fit and available. I never doubted I could play that amount of games because I always felt really fit. Even before my operation (the Englishman underwent heart surgery when he was at Brighton) I was never injured. I was always fit.”

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Goldson added: “I’ve always been naturally fit, but in this stage of my career I’m good at looking after myself. I still plan to play for a number of years and I work hard every day to ensure I do that.

“I don’t do things differently in a sense. I’ve always been quite diligent in nutrition, stretching and gym work. Your career is short in general so I want to go for as long as I can and provide a future for myself and my family.

“It’s just boring. I don’t really eat takeaways, only on the occasion. I don’t snack, I don’t drink anything else other than water. It’s the small things, the one per cents, I think that add up.

“I was quite lucky in that when I was younger I had good professionals around me especially at Brighton. The captain there, Bruno, played until he was 38 or 39. His nutrition was amazing.

“Looking at that as a young player, I realised that was something to do myself off you want to play on into your older years. Yeah, it’s boring, but I think you have to do it if you want to carry on playing until your late 30s.

“I believe in the one per cents. If you eat one takeaway tonight, it won’t harm you. But over your career and the later you go on, it will if you keep on doing it. So that’s what I try to do.

"Recovery, nutrition, sleep. They are all quite important when you get older. It’s just now about keeping to those habits and staying boring so I can play as long as I can.”