ALLAN MCGREGOR can testify there's a reason Jorg Albertz was nicknamed ‘The Hammer’.

Former Ibrox teammate Lionel Charbonnier has detailed the scenario that led to the now-legendary goalie suffering a serious injury from one of the German's trademark thunderbolts.

The 40-year-old, whose future at Rangers remains unclear, was a mere teenager when he was thrust in front of the German for shooting practice.

Charbonnier had taken the young McGregor under his wing when he joined the club from Auxerre in the summer of 1998.

And the French World Cup winner told the Rangers Review, he had a full-blown bust-up with then boss Dick Advocaat for placing McGregor between the sticks during that training session.

He recalled: “Allan was my boy! He was unbelievable and a good guy.

READ MORE: Our full interview with Lionel Charbonnier

"Dick Advocaat made a bad mistake with him. He was 16 or 17 and sometimes he came to train with us and the Hammer was there. When that man kicked the ball it was very, very hard.

“Advocaat put Allan in the goal and I said, ‘No coach! Don’t put Allan in the goal because there will be trouble.’ He said, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah!’ and put him in. I think Allan broke his hand. He was out for a long time, maybe six months. That was a mistake Advocaat made.

“But I’m so glad to see Allan at 40 years old and still being so great for Rangers. I’m very proud of what he’s done in the game since those days.”