ROSS WILSON reckons the moment was right for him to move to Rangers at the second time of asking after revealing his Premier League colleagues backed his Ibrox switch.

Wilson was approached by the Light Blues board about the possibility of becoming Director of Football two years ago and held positive discussions with the Gers hierarchy.

But he elected to remain south of the border with Southampton as Rangers turned to Mark Allen to oversee their football operations at Ibrox and the Hummel Training Centre.

The departure of Allen in September set the wheels in motion for Wilson to join the Gers and he now holds the position of Sporting Director after ending his stint in England.

Wilson said: "I had a really enjoyable, strong journey south of the border but I’m delighted to come back north and it’s been a positive few weeks since I came back.

“I hope people who have worked with me in the past understand that one of my values is loyalty and I was only two-and-a-bit years into my time at Southampton when Rangers approached me.

“I felt I owed a loyalty to the people I worked with and for and it wasn’t the right moment for me to leave Southampton where I had wonderful job and an impossible one to leave at that moment in time.

“It was a difficult decision to not come a couple of years ago. There was a blank sheet of paper at the time to try and help rebuild the football club.

“There had been difficult times before that and Mark Allen took the job and has laid a lot of strong foundations so thanks to him for that.

“It was difficult not to come but more difficult to leave Southampton. We’ve got a strong sporting director network in England, there’s not too many of us and we’re a close group and get on well, and we bounce things off each other.

“I did seek some counsel from some of my colleagues down south on the opportunity when it presented itself and it’s something that excites me at a club with huge potential.

“A lot of the building blocks have been laid but there’s a long way to go and I hope when I’m sitting in two years’ time that there’s still a long way to go because that’s the nature of a club of this size."