THE forgotten man, second time around, flew into Glasgow last night determined to become one of the Advocaat army at Ibrox.
Sebastian Rozental, the Chilean striker who has been a Rangers player for 21 months but has played fewer than a handful of games, declared himself ready to show his true worth for the club that has shown great patience and understanding as he went through a series of starts and stops,
beleaguered by injury, since
Walter Smith signed him in December, 1996.
''We will see how he is,'' said manager Dick Advocaat. ''Maybe he can play in the youth team on Wednesday.''
The manager admitted that, when he was in charge at PSV Eindhoven, he had been keen on the then 19-year-old from Chile but added: ''We could not compete with Rangers. He is a good player and a big star in Chile. If he can play like he did then, he will be a great bonus for us.''
The man himself is not making any extravagant promises but he is completely confident that the knee injury which has caused him so much heartache is cured.
''I have no worry about that,'' he said after a 20-hour journey from South America, ''but it will take me a few weeks to get my match fitness right.''
Rozental revealed that he had signed an extension to his original three-year contract which will take him up to December, 2000, which shows a remarkable confidence in his rehabiltiation by the club chairman, David Murray.
It also confirms the faith in his ability by Advocaat who, Seb told us, called him to a team meeting in June when he was one of the playing staff to see the new manager for the first time. ''I spent 10 hours in Glasgow and then flew out again.''
Rozental looked fit and well and insisted that he now wants to put behind him the nightmarish 21 months since he signed for Rangers. ''I have trained hard and played in many training games but I don't want to rush things. I might be able to be a candidate for the first team in two or three weeks but maybe it will be two months.
''All I care is that I can play again for Rangers and prove myself to the fans who have been wonderful. I have never given up hope because I know of so many players who have had worse injury problems and came back.''
He insisted that he did not allow the signing of so many new players at Ibrox to unsettle him, perhaps indicating a genuine confidence in his own ability.
Meanwhile, Advocaat has a couple of problems to sort out, in particular the state of readiness of Russian internationalist Andrei Kanchelskis, who has a hamstring injury which he received during the defeat of Russia by Ukraine in the Euro 2000 quali-fier at the weekend.
''We will have to judge how he is but we hope he will be with us in Israel,'' he said.
Rino Gattuso and Charlie Miller are doubtful starters for tonight's much shorter trip to Ayr in the League Cup, the start of what Advocaat called a very important week for the club.
The Dutch manager does not subscribe to the view that the tournament is any less worthwhile because it has lost its European qualification prize.
Nor does he think it right to play a different team for the tie. ''I don't agree with Alex Ferguson about this. For me, it is best to play your best team all the time. I want to win everything we play in, every game we play, especially this year, our first in Scotland.
''This will be a big month for us. After Ayr, we meet Dundee United in the league on Saturday, then go to Israel, and after that we play Celtic. It would be nice to be able to use fresh players but we have some injuries.
''We have watched Ayr a few times and know we will have to take them seriously. They will get behind the ball and make things difficult for us but it is all part of building a team.''
Advocaat is likely to stand by the Lorenzo Amoruso-Craig Moore central defensive pairing even though Colin Hendry moved up his fitness level when he played for Scotland in Lithuania.
''If I want to change the team I have some options but I don't want to change the system.''
One of the men who has established himself as a regular, not so easy in the Advocaat regime, is Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who acknowledges the fact that the team is beginning to get its act together.
''If you look at our first game against Hearts in the league and where we are now, I think you can say we have progressed. But this will be a difficult game at Ayr with the tight pitch and a team determined to beat the big club.
''You only need to look at the results in the last round to see that. As a team, we want to win everything and if we win tomorrow, we will be one game away from a final.''
Ayr manager, former Ibrox man Gordon Dalziel, took his side to a hotel last night to relax.
He said: ''I am sitting here talking with my coaching staff and thinking about tactics. We might change the shape of the side to face the best team in Scotland.
''We have a lot to discuss, but I will let the players know first in the morning the make-up of the team. After that, everyone will know my decision.
''We are looking forward to this 90 minutes in front of a full house and we believe we can create an upset.
''Our side is full of experienced players who all believe they have a point to prove.''
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