Image source, SNSImage caption, Derek McInnes was named Premiership manager of the month for September after four wins from four last month
ByThomas DuncanBBC Sport Scotland- Published11 minutes ago
Rangers manager Derek McInnes says he is "not a fan" of the extended international break which he considers "too long".
The Ibrox club had 13 players away on duty for their countries after the Scottish Premiership win over Celtic on 20 September.
McInnes says the full squad will only train together on Friday, the day before the visit of Kilmarnock and 19 days after their derby triumph.
"Our players are away with different federations, working with different staff and travelling all over the world for four games," McInnes said.
"It's tough for the players to be away from their families, but equally for us there is a lot of nervousness about your players going into other countries' hands for so long.
"They're all back in today but they're not all training. So by the time we get on to the pitch together tomorrow it'll be 19 days since the Celtic game.
"That's longer than a lot of tournaments for a lot of countries. I know it's set in stone - but I'm not a fan of it to be honest."
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Rangers went into the break on a run of six straight victories, the latest two over Celtic in the League Cup and Premiership.
It was a much-needed revival for McInnes, who was named the Premiership manager of the month for September, and his side after a rocky start to his time at Ibrox which involved an exit from European competition.
The Rangers boss says he is under "no illusions" their good form has to continue, and also revealed he had lunch with Sir Alex Ferguson at the club's training ground.
The former Manchester United boss was a regular visitor to Tynecastle last season as McInnes spearheaded Hearts' unexpected title charge.
"He spent a bit of time with the staff and me, chewing the fat as he does," McInnes explained. "He has always been really supportive, and I'm sure he is with a lot of managers.
"I've had a couple of conversations with him since I've been at the club, but to see him in person was good. Particularly after his health scare.
"He enjoyed what we were doing at Hearts and he was a regular visitor. But he understood the opportunity for me to come here was there and we spoke long and hard about that.
"He spoke about his own difficult starts at Man Unuited, and he said it's how you finish a campaign not how you start the campaign. Sometimes it can take time.
"He thought we were really strong on the performance at Celtic Park in particular."
