Danilo was speaking after Rangers'  2-1 defeat to Birmingham City at St Andrew's.

Here is everything he had to say.

What was it like to start after being out for so long with injury?

It was really good to be back on the field, especially to start. It has been rough for me when I look backwards. Last year was not really great for me personally but right now I start from scratch and build up my condition. It was good to get 45 minutes in the legs and I'm ready to crack on now. Hopefully, no more injuries and just get back on the field where I'm happy.

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Are you going to be ready to start at Tynecastle?

I think this depends on the coach. I have to build up more conditioning. I just felt today that 45 minutes was good. We have one more game until the season starts so I don't know, it just depends on the coach but I have to be ready. That's when I'll know for sure in my mind and my body as well if I'm ready or not. I'm just going to work hard day by day.

How much should fans read into the poor results in pre-season?

We always want to win whether it's a friendly game or not. We want to come here to win and the fans made the effort to travel so you want to win for them as well. But that's the good thing, it's a friendly game so whether you win or lose you just take a lesson and go for the next one so we just focus on Berlin. Today was a good test. For me, it was just about building up my conditioning and have the experience as a starter again. For the boys it was the same to just build up conditioning and self-confidence. Some of the boys didn't play for a long time and are returning from injury.

Are you able to play without worrying about injuries?

I've been thinking in the past too much. When I play I just don't think about anything, I don't even think about my knee or what happened to my face. When I get on the field I'm just ready to sacrifice everything and to do everything good to help the team. I have good people around me, also the doc and the medical staff are always trying to help me and coaches are telling me to enjoy being on the field, be happy and be smiling like I always do. That's the strong point in my head, when I'm on the field I just don't think about anything.

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Is there a belief you can achieve things this season?

Self-confidence is good and in the group we all believe in each other. We know the quality we have in this squad. A strong point we showed last season is that we can come back from difficult times. In football there's always ups and downs but I think we are ready to do everything and give everything this year.

How are you feeling physically and how is your knee?

My knee feels good. I'm still working a lot on the quads because that's what will protect my knee. I still feel like I'm a little bit away to be back to 100 percent but everything is good, the body's good, the knee's good. Right now I'm just building up my condition and see what happens next.