Blackpool striker has no regrets at leaving Rangers

The 23-year-old made the move to Bloomfield Road last summer for an undisclosed fee, bringing an end to his nine-year stay at Ibrox.

He struggled to break his way into Simon Grayson’s plans at the beginning of the season, making just 12 appearances before joining Plymouth Argyle on loan in January.

He enjoyed an impressive spell at Home Park, helping the club to seal automatic promotion from League Two with seven goals in 13 games.

While things are yet to click into place for him on the Fylde coast, Hardie says he has no regrets about leaving the Scottish giants last year.

“It was a dream come true to play for Rangers, but I just got to the age where I needed to play first-team football every week,” he said in a YouTube interview with Ryan Kelly.

“An opportunity came up to sign for Blackpool, which really came out of the blue.

“Rangers accepted an offer and I was actually told about it when I was training, so things moved quite quickly.

“When an opportunity like that comes up it’s hard to say no.

“I thought by having the opportunity to move somewhere and start afresh I’d be able to play every week and get a chance at first-team football.

“I had a good 10 years at Rangers but I think my time was up. I had made all my dreams come true.

“Now it’s starting to pay off that it was the right decision now I’m scoring goals and playing week in, week out.”

Explaining how his loan switch to Plymouth came about, Hardie added: “During the first half of the season I never really got as much game time as I thought I would.

“When December came, I spoke to my agent and he told me he would speak to Blackpool and find out what was happening.

“He asked about the possibility of me heading out on loan to get some football.

“It actually came about when I was playing for Blackpool’s reserves at Fleetwood.

“The Plymouth manager, Ryan Lowe, was there but I didn’t have a clue.

“I scored a goal from the halfway line and then a backheel goal, so those two goals must have made a good impression.

“As it came about, a couple of weeks later the offer was there for me to go down to Plymouth.

“It’s a massive, massive club and it was a great opportunity for me.

“I think they were seventh in League Two at the time which, for a club of their size, they shouldn’t be.

“I was thinking if I went there I would get the opportunity to go for promotion.

“I started off on fire and scored four or five times off the bench straight away.

“I’ve scored seven times in five starts and 13 appearances, so I’ve really, really enjoyed it.

“The fans have been brilliant, they turn out in their numbers every game.

“Even away games, they travelled everywhere which is impressive when you consider how far away it is from everywhere.

“They travel five or six hours to midweek away games and stuff like that.”