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Alex McLeish has showered Rangers attacker Ryan Kent with huge praise after his performance on Thursday night.

Kent produced a superb second-half performance from the bench in the thrilling 4-3 win over Royal Antwerp.

The Gers hold the advantage after a victory over Antwerp in the first leg of a Europa League two-legged tie.

Kent, who entered the pitch for injured teammate Kemar Roofe, scored a decisive goal that made it 3-3 before Borna Barisic’s late penalty.

Kent netted a stunning individual goal after ghosting past several players and finishing cooly after a one-two with Alfredo Morelos.

The 24-year-old produced his biggest moment so far this season on the European stage and has shown in patches his star quality, albeit the manager would hope for a little more consistency.

Ex-Rangers boss McLeish has waxed lyrical about the English winger:

“Kent, who hasn’t been on the scoresheet for a while, you see what he can bring. The goal he scored [against Antwerp] was absolutely different class. Brilliant interception with teammates and a great finish,” McLeish told Football Pass.

“You can see that he’s desperately wanted a goal for weeks and that could finally set him off on a run.”

TBR’s View:

Kent is capable of the spectacular with his talent, something Rangers will need if they want to go deep into the Europa League competition.

The left-winger now has eight goals and 11 assists in 39 appearances this season.

He will know that he’s capable of going up another gear and Ibrox supporters will hope Thursday can be the catalyst for him to rediscover his top form once again.