New Sons striker Andy Little is hoping that the Rangers connection at the Rock will help fire the side straight back into the Championship next season.

Little spent seven years at Ibrox and joins an already strong contingent of ex-Gers currently at Dumbarton after signing a six-month deal two weeks ago.

That deal has given him the chance to link up once again with Sons' assistant manager and Rangers legend Ian Durrant, Rory Loy, Ross Perry, Kyle Hutton, Grant Adam, and Calum Gallagher and the Northern Irishman firmly believes that connection and experience can only be a good thing for the Sons in their push for immediate promotion back into the second tier of Scottish football.

He said: "Perry, Rory, Kyle and Grant were all boys I played with in the Rangers youth team. We've known each other a long time now, well over 10 years, so it's kind of different. It doesn't happen very often in football as you move around a lot. You might know a few boys in a new squad you join but rarely do you get the chance to play with a lot of boys you've come through the youth ranks with. Turning up to training on a Tuesday and a Thursday and then travelling to the match on a Saturday with your mates - proper mates you've known over a good number of years - will be enjoyable.

"Playing under Stevie Aitken has been brilliant, and he's been good to me, but one of the main things that made me come was Ian Durrant. He played a big part in bringing me to Rangers so I'll always have a soft spot for Durranty. The kind of man he is too, he's funny and just a kind guy so it's great to play under him again.

"It's already an experienced squad here when you look at the age of it so you'd like to think that between us all we will have enough know-how and quality to win. It's not going to be easy but as long as we win the majority of games we'll be right up there. It'll never be easy and it'll take a bit of luck and the players will need to perform, but it's down to us now to do the business."

The Northern Ireland internationalist has had a tough time of it of late with a number of injury setbacks curtailing his time down south at Preston North End and Blackpool before his most recent injury woe, a freak training ground accident while at Stirling Albion in 2017, almost ended his career. The 29-year-old suffered a fractured skull and eye socket and two cracked bones in his neck after a collision with a teammate but thankfully he is now fully recovered after an extended spell on the sidelines and he is grateful to be given the opportunity at Dumbarton.

"If there was a year contract on offer, I would have signed it," he explained. "I understand that I've had a lot of problems over the last few years though, so the manager and the club have been very sensible. Six months works well for both myself and the club so I can see how it goes, hopefully, do well and stay on longer.

"I'm just happy to be back playing again, to be honest. To play as many games as possible is my number one focus from a personal point of view. From a team point of view, if we can be winning games and winning leagues then that'll be a big bonus but for me personally, I just want to stay fit and play games."