Rangers fans told they HELPED Queen's Park to Scottish Cup glory as kingslayer reveals secret of 'biggest upset ever'
Seb Drozd scored the goal Queen’s Park had been waiting a lifetime for.
But the Spiders’ king-slayer admits he once feared he’d never get his own moment of crowning glory as injury left his career hanging in the balance. The 21-year-old former Millwall kid joined Callum Davidson’s side in the summer. The move to Glasgow came as a major relief to the Londoner after he’d spent more than a year out of the game with an agonising back complaint.
But after that long dark period, he is now basking in the bright light of Queen’s stunning Ibrox triumph. Drozd is the new hero of Hampden after his goal sank Philippe Clement’s team to hand Queen’s their first win over Rangers in 77 years and with it a place in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals. And it was a moment that was worth the wait for the goalscorer.
He said: “When you go through such a dark time, when you don't play for so long, thinking you're never going to play again, to be able to do what I did on Sunday was an unbelievable feeling. I came up here last year.
"I was a free agent. I’d been released by Millwall back in May, and then I went through an injury, so I was still doing my rehab there.
"My first game in over a year was up here with Queen’s. It was very tough. There were points when I thought I wasn't going to play again. I was constantly in pain. I wasn't able to do that move without feeling something. But then I came to the decision that I needed surgery and it helped me get over the line so now I can go every day without any pain.
“I had sciatica which started off at first and then developed into slipped discs. Any type of movement hurt. The damage was in my back but it was affecting mainly down my leg. I’ve said this to a couple of people before, I would have rather done my ACL than done what I had. I went through three setbacks where I thought I would be able to play again but it just kept flaring up.
“I could have had surgery right away on my back which would have probably settled things down straight away but I ended up having injections, I had two injections which helped and which let me run and do rehab, but then as soon as the injection wore off I wasn’t right. I knew I had to end up getting surgery. It took about eight months before I got the surgery. For six weeks pretty much the only rehab I could do was stretching.”
Drozd overcame his troubles to heap fresh pressure on beleaguered Gers boss Philippe Clement. Queen’s were in dreamland but for the hosts, Ibrox became a toxic environment as the heat from the stands proved too much for ropey Rangers. Asked to relive his moment of history, Drozd said: "I don't really know how to explain it.
"When the ball comes to me, I'm just prepared all the time. And then when I have the opportunity, I believe I can take — and I took it.
"Obviously Rangers are a good team, but I don't think many things came off for them. You could feel the pressure that the crowd was putting on them as well and I think it probably helped us. I’ve heard some people say it's one of the biggest upsets ever. But I'm not too sure how it works. But it's probably the biggest moment in my career so far and it's just unbelievable."
Drozd scored the goal that sent Queen’s through - but he had to share the spotlight with hero keeper Calum Ferrie after his stoppage-time save kept out James Tavernier’s last-gasp penalty. Drozd added: ”Everyone's heart sank when the penalty was given, but Cal pulled off an unbelievable save. So he's helped us get through.
"Cal made quite a few saves, he was very good. How far can we go now? Of course we're always going to believe in ourselves. So no matter who you come up against, we're going to give 100 percent and try to win, all the time. It would be unbelievable to try to get to the final and even win it, and we believe in ourselves. So we're going to try and do that."
