TURKISH midfield ace Tugay Kerimoglu today revealed he ditched Rangers for Rovers because he believes he can win things under new boss Graeme Souness.

The 30-year-old playmaker, pictured, checked into Brockhall yesterday for the first time since he completed his £1.3 million move from Ibrox.

And, after impressing on his Rovers debut in Austria last week, the former Galatasaray star is now desperate for his first taste of Premiership football as he looks to repeat the success he enjoyed under Souness during their time together in Turkey.

"I've come here because I want to win things," said Tugay.

"This is a big club, we've got some good players and I believe we can achieve things together over the next few years.

"Everyone has made me very welcome, my family are starting to settle in and I can't wait to start playing again now.

"It's going to be a lot harder in the Premiership compared to Scotland because up there, there's only really two teams.

"But, though Manchester United have been dominant in England, too, I know there's a lot of other clubs who have a chance of challenging them."

Due to the delays over obtaining a work permit, Souness's new midfield general is slightly behind the rest of the squad in terms of match fitness. But he should get the chance to step up his pre-season preparations in tonight's friendly with Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground.

And, once he has fully settled in, Souness is expecting him to have a major influence on Rovers' return to the top flight.

"There's a number of reasons why it takes some people time to fit in at a new club while others slot in straight away as if they've always been there," said Souness.

"So we'll see what happens with the two new guys we've brought in.

"But I've worked with Tugay before and I know exactly what we are getting.

"I just wish I'd had his ability because he's certainly a better player than I ever was, if not necessarily as aggressive."

With the new Souness barely a fortnight away, Souness plans to take his strongest possible squad to Wales tonight.

But he won't risk winger Damien Duff after the Irishman picked up a slight knock on last week's tour of Germany.

"Damien Duff turned up on Monday expecting to play against Port Vale but we're just being cautious with him because we've still got vivid memories of Higgy last year when he played with an Achilles problem and ended up being out for so long," said Souness.

"So, with Damien being such an important member of the squad, we can't afford to take any risks with him. Therefore, we won't be risking him again tonight but I'll probably play him at Bradford on Saturday. That's a bit of a pity because he'd been looking really sharp in training and people had been saying that's the fittest they've ever seen him."

Damien Johnson (back) and Alan Mahon (Achilles and knee problems) are also likely to be missing again tonight against the Welshmen.

ROVERS reserves were due to play a Blackpool XI in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Brockhall today.