Why Leon King received Rangers nod from Gio van Bronckhorst as Ibrox rising star's high ceiling revealed

Gio van Bronckhorst insists Leon King showed why he is so highly rated at Rangers after being called upon at St Mirren.

The academy kid was handed just his fifth top-team appearance as he got the nod ahead of Leon Balogun to replace injured Filip Helander in the 4-0 rout.

Van Bronckhorst was able to give some of his fringe men some significant game time, with Steven Davis, Scott Wright, James Sands and Amad Diallo also enjoying their first notable run outs in weeks.

“Leon is training really well and is playing really well for the B team,” said Van Bronckhorst as he explained why he turned to the 18-year-old instead of 45-time capped Nigeria international Balogun.

“So today we wanted to give him the chance to be in the team and he brought what we think he can bring.

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“He has so much quality but also a lot of room to improve.

“But that’s because he’s a young player and I’m happy he’s making the progress is now.”

Van Bronckhorst is keeping his fingers crossed for good news on Rangers’ injury front after hailing a major shot in the arm ahead of Thursday’s do-or-die Braga clash.

Sunday's morale-boosting stroll at St Mirren was soured by the sight of both John Lundstram and Helander heading down the