Lee McCulloch believes Rangers are now in the perfect position to hand out a few opportunities to young winger Glenn Middleton in the remaining games of the season.
Middleton, who was promoted to the first team last summer, enjoyed a memorable first half of the season after featuring both domestically and in Europe for Rangers.
However, Ryan Kent’s impressive performances since the turn of the year have kept the 19-year-old away from action after making just a single appearance in the Scottish Premiership following the winter break.
Despite his lack of minutes with the first team, Middleton has continued to impress with the Under-20s and netted a brace during their 2-0 win over Celtic in the Reserve League on Monday.
And McCulloch believes Rangers are now in the perfect position to give Middleton a recall to the first team with just a few games remaining before the end of the season.
The former Ger believes that Middleton seems to be doing everything right with respect to getting a few more games at senior level under his belt and insisted he will benefit from his exploits with the first team so far this term.
“You have to prove yourself to get into the first team.
"When you drop out, it is another test and you have to show you can get back in again, whether that is through training or in Reserve games”, McCulloch wrote in his column for the Evening Times.
“Glenn looks to be doing everything right in that regard and he will hope to get his chance in the last couple of Premiership games for Steven Gerrard’s side.
“I do think he is a real talent and he will only get better through time.
"It is good for him to have first team minutes under his belt this season and this whole campaign will certainly stand him in good stead.
“Rangers aren’t going for the title anymore and they should secure second place so there might be a chance for Steven to give the likes of Glenn a run of games.”
Middleton, who has been capped at various age groups by Scotland, is under contract at Rangers until the summer of 2023.
