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New Forest Green Rovers signing Charlie McCann on settling in at The New Lawn, looking ahead to Morecambe and his experience at Rangers

Forest Green Rovers have recently announced the signing of former Manchester United and Rangers midfielder Charlie McCann.

McCann has signed a long-term contract at The New Lawn and will begin his Rovers career under recently appointed first-team manager Duncan Ferguson.

The 20-year-old has joined the club at a difficult time with the Gloucestershire side sitting rock bottom of League One seven points off safety.

McCann has examined the situation the club are in but suggests there’s no reason why they can’t kick on.

“We all know the situation we find ourselves in, you’ve got to keep going out there and trying to find the points, if we can start picking up a few points in the next few weeks, there’s plenty of momentum to come.”

With the appointment of former Everton striker Ferguson, McCann is already getting used to the Scotsman’s style as a manager.

“I didn’t get to see much of the previous manager’s regime, but he’s (Ferguson) brought in intensity which was probably missing in training at times.”

“He’s brought a comradery towards the group and it seems like everyone is together and everyone’s excited for the next few weeks.”

The youngster has suggested that there is problems breaking teams down and defending within the team, but is adamant they can find a solution.

“It’s obviously a complex problem that we need to sort, I think its quite a simple situation, the general play has been good in games I just think we’ve let ourselves down in defending our goal.”

“I think we haven’t found the way to break teams down and get the goals we need.”

“We’ve started forming ways of breaking teams down in training and if you get goals and footholds in games it’s always better to keep hold on to something than to chase it and we need to break teams down better.”

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After having not won since the middle of December where they beat arch-rivals Cheltenham Town in the El Glosico, a relegation six-pointer is next up this weekend away to Morecambe, McCann has done his research on Derek Adams’s men.

They’re going to be a tough side, we know they’re good at home, they’re a good counter-attacking team and we know its gonna be a tough challenge, but we’ve identified areas where we think we can hurt them.”

McCann had an up and down time at former club Rangers making 10 first-team appearances, and explains how his move to Forest Green came about in the first place.

“I was in a situation when I was in the first team, and I was in around it and I was probably on the bench most weeks not getting the minutes I wanted, and I felt like I was at a point in my career where I probably needed to start playing real games of football.

“I had an overriding feeling that I didn’t want to sit around any longer. I spoke to the club and they told me the ambitions, the pathway of the club and where they want to go so I think it was an exciting prospect.”

After his time at The Gers, McCann has picked up a lot of experience of being at a top-level club like the Scottish side, also picking up key advice from high-level players and suggests he wouldn’t rule out a return to the Ibrox.

“I’ve been involved in a team where they’re preparing for Europa League finals. I’ve seen some high-quality preparation that go into games like that. I can use it as an experience where I can go back and take stuff from. Hopefully I can show how good I can be.”

“I’ve learnt a lot of players there, I’ve always said someone who helped me a lot was Steven Davis, the most capped British player at a national level, he was a big helping hand, he gave me a lot of tips and advice that will help me for the rest of my career.”

“I’ve said all along, I would’ve wanted to play for Rangers more than I did but it probably wasn’t the right time but I’d never rule out the chances of going back, that Is an option for the future.”

The midfielder has put himself out there to the Rovers fans of what kind of player he is and what he can offer to the club.

“I’m always looking for the ball to make things happen, taking the balls from defenders and keeping the ball to hurt teams.”

“I’ve got fight in me, where I can put myself about, the main thing I want Forest Green fans to know is that I can make things happen.”

McCann made his debut in Rovers 2-0 defeat to Peterborough but is hoping to make his first start this weekend in a huge clash against Morecambe.

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