Gers Jam A Sweetener For Buffel

Feb 24 2008 By Gordon Waddell

THOMAS BUFFEL was as happy as any Rangers player in Athens on Thursday night - because adding to club's fixture logjam gives him some hope of a game.

The Belgian outcast is fighting back from a knee operation and has only played 86 minutes of football all season.

He hasn't started a game in 14 months and was on the bench again as Rangers saw off Panathinaikos in the UEFA Cup.

But the 27-year-old sees some light at the end of the tunnel with Gers set to be playing two games a week for the next two months.

Buffel said: "The further we go in Europe the more games we play and the more I maybe have a chance of playing.

"I am fit but I need some match fitness. The manager spoke to me last year and told me I had to be patient.

"But it's important to start playing - I got the operation to be a fitter player and now I don't get the benefit.

"A couple of clubs were interested in January. I spoke with Cologne but they could not come to an agreement with Rangers."