THERE is a significant difference between being a Rangers player and playing for Rangers.

Greg Docherty has now sacrificed both but the short-term pain could lead to long-term gain for the midfielder.

Guaranteed a place in Steven Gerrard’s squad but not his team, Docherty knew he had to leave Ibrox just months after penning a deal with his boyhood heroes.

He could have stayed, collected his wages and got match time here and there.

That has never been his mindset, though. After stepping back, he is now looking to stride forward at Shrewsbury Town.

“That’s just not me,” Docherty said. “I didn’t play in the Europa League at the start of this season and it was killing me mentally.

“The manager knew that. He knew at 21 I need to play.

“The manager gets it and knows coming in to training and just being there wouldn’t be good for me. He encouraged me to go and get the games I need. I will go back to Rangers next season and I will still only be 22.

“When the chance of a loan came about I did a lot of research about players who went on loan and how it benefitted them going back to their current club.

“I looked across the city at Calum McGregor. He is now a starter for Scotland and Celtic.

“David Beckham went on loan when he was a youngster at Man United.

“Callum went away and got his game time at Notts County and now he is the number one midfielder in Scotland.

“He is also one of the first picks in the national team so I have to look at that. It’s all part of learning and I know I still have so much to learn.

“Jack Grealish was also on loan at Notts County at the same time and went back to Aston Villa.

“You just have to look at all the clubs Grealish was linked with in the summer.

“He is a big name down there and Callum is a big name up here. These are the guys you have to look at and hope this loan can benefit me as much as it did them.”

Docherty was living the dream when he moved from Hamilton to Rangers in January but the reality of life at Ibrox hit hard during a wretched second half of the campaign for the Light Blues.

The arrival of Gerrard in the summer gave everyone a clean slate but Docherty’s chances were going to be limited as the likes of Scott Arfield and Lassana Coulibaly were brought on board.

He said: “It’s just another hurdle. It’s another stage of my development. I was keen to get out of Scotland and try something different.

“I wasn’t under any pressure to leave Rangers. It was my decision. I thought it was something I had to do for my long term development.

“Going back to Rangers as a better player is obviously the aim.

“He (Gerrard) was honest from day one. I admire him as a guy and as a player and now as a coach.

“If he thinks this will benefit me then I trust him. It’s a new learning curve.

“I’ve been used to playing every week at Hamilton. It was the same when I went to Rangers at first. I need to be playing 35, 40 odd games in a new league, not just coming on for 15 minutes here and there.”