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Steven Gerrard has praised the impact of teenage talent Leon King in Rangers training, and claimed he deserved his first-team minutes last night.

The 17-year-old was given a late cameo appearance from the bench in Wednesday night’s victory away to Livingston in the Scottish Premiership fixture.

Gers manager Gerrard watched his side secure a comfortable 3-0 away win in midweek, which means they are now just one result away from completing the entire league season without a single defeat.

The Ibrox outfit have stormed towards the title this season, but have a chance at the weekend to wrap it up in style if they avoid defeat to Aberdeen.

Gerrard mentioned King after his display from the bench against Livingston.

He stressed that the Scottish defender fully warranted some senior minutes due to the way he’s looked in training.

“We want to be able to give these opportunities out to the kids, but the kids have got to come with us and they have got to be good enough and Leon has been superb in training,” Gerrard said, as quoted by the club’s official website.

“The biggest compliment I can pay him for his age and where he is at is he hasn’t looked out of place in training, so that wasn’t a sentimental substitution tonight – he has earned it by training really well among his peers at first-team level.”

TBR’s View:

Rangers have shown in recent years they have a conveyer belt of talent coming through the academy.

It may have only been a late cameo, but King has now made two first-team appearances and it’s been a year where he’s taken a giant stride forwards.

Gerrard’s attitude to give young players first-team exposure if they are good enough is something supporters love, so it’ll be exciting to see how King develops going into next season now he’s had a taste of it.