GREG STEWART has revealed that the coronavirus lockdown period has made him the fittest he has ever been.

The Rangers attacker struggled to cement a spot in Steven Gerrard’s starting line-up last season, but he’s hoping a successful pre-season can help edge his way into the Ibrox gaffer’s plans ahead of the new Scottish Premiership season getting underway on August 1.

Speaking to Rangers TV, he said: “It’s one of those things that I always want to improve personally and just get fitter and fitter.

“The lockdown probably helped me do that, I was out running most days just keeping myself ticking over, as I can’t really afford to not be.

“It’s massive for me and as I say as a team we want to be the fittest team in the league and hopefully that stands us in good stead for the season ahead.

 "It's huge for us how we prepare and recover because of the amount of games that we face - you're talking 60 games a season, so you need to prepare yourself for that and all the staff do their best to help us in every department."

Stewart faces a battle with Ianis Hagi to land a starting spot for Rangers after the Romanian penned a permanent deal in Glasgow this summer.

But despite the fight for places, Stewart is confident that the pair can drive each other on to become the best they possibly can be.

He added: “It’s great to have Ianis [Hagi] back, we all know the qualities that he can bring.

“For him as well he is still young and to move to a different country sometimes you can take a bit of time to settle but as you can see he’s settled in well.

“When you’re at Rangers you want to have competitiveness all over the pitch in every position so it is great to have him back and hopefully he can become even better.”