Why Leon King's Rangers rise could eclipse Nathan Patterson as former Ibrox star awestruck by his '30 year old brain'

Andy Halliday believes Leon King and Alex Lowry deserve more Rangers opportunities before the end of the season.

And he backs King to be the next big hit at Ibrox.

Halliday was at Rangers when the highly regarded 18-year-old was coming through the youth ranks.

"Listen, everyone probably agrees that Celtic are heavy favourites to win the league now", Halliday told Open Goal.

“Rangers are still going to do what they can from now until the end of the season.

“But I would love to see [Alex] Lowry, [Leon] King, young boys that deserve to get a chance.

“I would love to see them get game time between now and the end of the season.

King replaced Filip Helander after the Swedish defender limped off during Giovanni van Bronckhorst 's side 4-0 win against St Mirren on Sunday with the youngster impressing at centre-back alongside Connor Goldson.

And the former Rangers star insists he always knew King would be the next prospect to breakthrough at Ibrox- even ahead of Nathan Patterson.

“He was brilliant [against St Mirren]", added Halliday.

"I told you when I left Rangers when you asked who I thought the next player was.

“Nathan Patterson was one, I always felt Leon would be the one to step up.

“He has a 30-year-old’s brain which I think is massive for younger kids.

“He is just so mature in the way he plays, he’s not scared to get on the ball. He’s not the biggest but he’s very, very intelligent.

“If he keeps maintaining the progress he’s made then I think he’ll have a future at Rangers.”