MICHAEL O’Halloran has admitted was disappointed to learn he had no future at Rangers under Pedro Caixinha by reading the Portuguese manager’s comments in a newspaper last month.

O’Halloran, who joined St. Johnstone on loan back in July, also revealed he had felt the need to do extra training sessions by himself in order to remain fully fit under Caixinha and had found him difficult to understand.

The winger, who scored four goals in five games last month and helped the McDiarmid Park club go undefeated, was speaking as he picked the Ladbrokes Premiership Player of the Month Award for August.

Caixinha was publicly scathing about the 26-year-old after he had started strongly on his return to Perth and stated that he was ‘not the type of player Rangers needs’.

Asked when he had found out he had no future at Ibrox under Caixinha, O’Halloran said: “I kind of got it from the newspaper. That was when I realised. I have not heard anything from him or from Rangers for that matter. It was news to me as well as everybody else. It was disappointing.

“Since I have been to Rangers I have not really had a chance. I have only played in a handful of games. That is the main disappointment. I went there hoping I was going to play and kick on and it never really happened.

“When he said those comments I realised that was it. I am still contracted there (at Rangers). I was thinking I would come here and play and then go back there in January. But that kind of puts it in perspective for me.

“To not be given a chance and then told I had no future there like that (by reading a story in a newspaper) is not nice. But that is football. I am only concentrating now on playing. I am happy at St. Johnstone.

“A few people texted me (about the stories). As I say, I try not to look too much into that. I am happy right now where I am. I’m thriving playing for a manager who appreciates me and for a team who appreciates me.”

O’Halloran, who was signed by Caixinha’s predecessor Mark Warburton for £500,000 in February last year, was also less than effusive about the Rangers manager’s training sessions and revealed he had undertaken additional workouts of his own accord to remain in peak condition.

Asked how he found his coaching, he said: “Different to say the least. I felt I was needing to do a lot of extra training to keep myself fit. I maybe wasn’t getting a lot out of the sessions, they weren’t very demanding to be honest.”

Caixinha, the former Uniao Leiria, Nacional, Santos Laguna and Al-Gharafa manager who was a surprise replacement for Warburton back in March, has a reputation as being a workaholic and a formidable taskmaster.

But O’Halloran said: “That is not really how I found it, not his training. I felt I was having to go and do extra myself. I wasn’t playing at the time and obviously other boys are playing, but I felt I had to do extra to keep myself ticking over. I certainly didn’t keep myself fit through the training.”

The former Scotland Under-21 internationalist, who failed to feature regularly under Warburton or Caixinha fell further out of the picture at Rangers when the latter signed no fewer than eight new players and brought in three more on loan this summer.

But he revealed that his position was never explained to him. O’Halloran said: “He spoke to a few boys, but I didn’t really get much out of him in terms what he was thinking. He was quite hard to understand sometimes. I didn’t know what he was thinking.”

The player was reported to have been disciplined by Caixinha after failing to report for an under-20 game back in May – but he vehemently denied that was the case.

O’Halloran said: “That was a load of nonsense. I know there was a lot of stuff said about me, but I would never do that. That’s not in my nature. I always want to play football. I would never refuse to play in a game. I would never not turn up. But I am not allowed to discuss it.”

Despite his remarks about Caixinha, who has come under pressure this season following a humiliating Europa League qualifying defeat to Progres Niederkorn of Luxembourg and Premiership loss to Hibs at home, and his regime, O’Halloran refused to rule out playing for Rangers again in the future.

“I'm not sure what will happen,” he said. “I'm still contracted to Rangers at the minute. It'll be interesting come January. Obviously, I go back there and I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

“I would never say never. I don’t know the situation. Things can change in football very quickly. I wouldn’t rule it out.”

O’Halloran revealed how he had stayed in Scotland during the close season in order to get himself in shape to challenge for a place in the Rangers first team in the 2017/18 campaign.

“I didn't go on holiday this summer,” he said. “I just worked myself trying to get fit again and get my fitness going for the opportunity to come. There was a lot of training myself. It can be difficult, but it's what you've got to do to keep yourself fit because I hadn't played many games.

“The last game I'd started was January which is a long time. There was a lot of running myself and visits to the gym. I'd be in early morning with the fitness coach. I'd do a bit with him. He was good with me.”

O’Halloran, who has scored in St. Johnstone’s wins over St. Johnstone, Motherwell and Partick Thistle, admitted the criticism of him had spurred him on.

“I just wanted to come and play again,” he said. “That was my main desire. I had that hunger to be out there playing come three o’clock on a Saturday. Obviously, the comments were disappointing and football is always about proving people wrong, but I think you are only as good as your last game so I always try to do my best.”