The months on the sidelines robbed Vaclav Cerny of minutes and memories. As he makes up for lost time, he savours every moment while he strives for individual achievement and collective success.

The trials and tribulations have shaped Cerny as a player and a person. He is older and wiser for what he has been through and what he has overcome. A move to Rangers this season has offered him the opportunity to finally realise his ambitions and he will have a major role to play for Philippe Clement’s side as they bid for domestic titles and European progression.

Cerny was a rising star at Ajax when his career was halted by a cruciate ligament tear in October 2017 and he missed almost 12 months of football at a key stage of his development. The calendar year of 2021 was almost a complete write-off for Cerny. The winger was on the books of FC Twente by that stage and the second major knee injury of his career brought another challenge that he had to overcome.

Read more:

Those times offer perspective for Cerny and also act as a motivator. He knows how difficult the game can be, but also understands what rewards it can provide. Cerny lives in the present. As he looks forward his return to European action against Malmo this week, he took time to look back.

“I've been through a lot during my career,” Cerny, who joined on a season-long loan deal from Wolfsburg, said. “I had two big, big injuries, so that forms how you are, your experiences from the previous clubs, but also you personally. 

“I'm just enjoying myself being on the pitch, and I just want to give this club back what they've given me until now. For me, it's a clear thing that I want to pay back.

“As a football player, you play for a club, you play for your teammates, for your coaches - but when you're injured for so long, all of a sudden you're basically on your own. That's what is a struggle, actually.

“You have to find the mentality down deep to come through it, because we all have examples of players don't come out of those injuries. Those are the things that tested me and you quickly realise what it means to play on these stages. It makes you enjoy it even more. 

“Literally, that's why I'm the kind of player that I am now. I want to score every game, I want to be important every game, even though it's not possible sometimes. I know that, but that's the thing that brings me forward and what I want to give to this amazing club right now.”

The demand that Cerny places on himself is replicated by the demand that others put on him. Clement needs the Czech to be a mainstay of his team this term, while supporters that were encouraged by their initial impressions want to see more of a player that offers a solution to a long-standing problem within the Ibrox forward line.

Assists against Dynamo Kyiv and Ross County came either side of his first goal for Clement’s side in the win over Motherwell. A low-key showing in the defeat to Celtic was followed by an afternoon off at Tannadice as illness ruled Cerny out of action. He returned to the team at the weekend as Rangers eased to victory over Dundee in the Premier Sports Cup.

The coming weeks will ask questions of Clement and his players. The grounding that Cerny received at the Johan Cruyff Arena will be beneficial in more ways than one at Ibrox. As he knows well, big clubs come with big expectations.

“It is similar, so it's good to know how it feels to be in a club that demands a lot,” Cerny said. “Fans, the club itself, you need to play for trophies and you want that as well as a player, and we all realise that.  So it’s good to have literally everyone on board and to understand the things we want to achieve. 

“Obviously clubs like Ajax, they want to win titles every single year, and that's more than normal. As I said, there is a constant pressure, but that's a good thing also.

“We don't have to make it bigger than it is, so it's just up to us to focus. It sounds really cliché, but it's just going step by step and achieving those things.”

The step that was taken on Saturday was an important one for Rangers. Cyriel Dessers scored his sixth and seventh goals of the season on the evening that James Tavernier opened his account. The margin of victory could, and should, have been greater for Rangers.

A meeting with Motherwell in the semi-finals is the reward for the victory. More pressingly right now, the momentum gained from a comfortable win can be harnessed in Sweden on Thursday night as Clement’s side begin their Europa League campaign.

“It was a very good result, a very important one,” Cerny said. “We look forward to the next game in the League Cup and now we can focus for Thursday. 

“You always feel the pressure to perform, and that's good. We know that, so we just keep on going, we just keep on working hard together and getting there step by step.”

Had everything gone to plan this season, Rangers would have had a Champions League fixture under their belts already this month. As Cerny knows, though, that is not how the game works.

The defeat to Kyiv was a blow in football and financial terms and Clement’s side must now make the most of the situation they are in. With meetings against the likes of Lyon, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United to come, this new league format will test Rangers and offer an insight into where they are in their development.

Read more:

This competition has mixed memories for Cerny and for Rangers. He watched Peter Bosz’s side lose to United in the final in 2017. Two years on from Seville, the Ibrox crowd can only dream of what is possible on the European stage.

“That was the season I was coming back from injury, so at the end of the season I was not fit enough to play,” Cerny said of Ajax’s defeat to Jose Mourinho’s side in Solna. “For me, I was part of it, but not how I wanted. It's another experience, but I'm more looking forward to this season. 

“We will see about [what Rangers can achieve]. The thing is, what we discussed and what we will do is to go step-by-step, focusing now on Thursday in Malmo.

“That's all that matters. We know what the potential is, but we need to show it week in, week out. That's all that matters.”