Thomson knows it's time to stamp his authority on Rangers midfield

KEVIN Thomson is in the fortunate position of his greatest admirer as a footballer also happening to be his manager. Over the next few weeks, the Rangers midfielder will have the opportunity to prove Walter Smith's faith in him is anything but misplaced.

The ankle injury sustained by Barry Ferguson during pre-season training has left the Ibrox club without the services of their captain and most influential player for a period, probably until October, when their prospects in both the Champions League and SPL title race will be shaped.

Like the rest of his team-mates, Thomson laments Ferguson's misfortune. The former Hibs captain, however, also realises it provides him with the challenge of showing he can deliver the type of commanding performances at the hub of the Rangers midfield which Smith believed him capable of when he signed him for £2 million in January 2007.

By his own admission, the 23-year-old has not been as consistently effective as he would have liked since that transfer but believes he is now ready to fill the void left by Ferguson.

"I've been at the club for 18 months now and I thought my performances in patches last year were beginning to get to the level they should be at," observed Thomson.

"If I can try to find more consistency in my game, as the manager has said in the past, and a wee bit more maturity then I'm sure I can step up to the plate.

"When the captain and one of your top players gets injured there is always going to be negativity. But it's up to our players to step up to the plate and prove it's not just all about Barry in midfield.

"He's an important player and it would be great if he was fit, but he is out injured, has just had an operation and we have to deal with that. It's an opportunity for our boys to step up and show what they can do."

Thomson was one of Rangers' most effective contributors in their 1-0 win over Clyde at Broadwood on Tuesday night, their penultimate friendly fixture before they begin their Champions League qualifying campaign against Kaunas at Ibrox next Wednesday night.

He believes they set a useful template for the type of performance which will be required to build a winning position against the Lithuanian champions in the first leg of the second qualifying round fixture.

"It was a good workout against Clyde," he said. "We were a bit disappointed with the game against Schalke in Germany last Saturday when we were disappointing in possession.

"But against Clyde we showed we were capable of passing the ball about and making other teams work hard.

"We could probably have done with scoring a few more goals. The strikers had chances and we could have netted a couple more than we did, but I'm sure when we start to click fully the goals will come.

"Game by game you can see that we are getting there slowly. We are only days away from the Kaunas game, so while we won't be at our peak when that game comes, we certainly won't be far off."

He added: "Being at Ibrox for the first leg helps, it would have been a trickier tie going over there first. It gives us the advantage, though I'm sure they'll be coming over determined not to lose a goal.

"We have to get the ball down and make them work hard rather than having them work us."

Rangers will complete their preparations with a friendly against Raith Rovers at Stark's Park on Saturday and Thomson concedes they still have work to do in reaching the necessary levels of physical readiness for competitive action.

"All the games are important at the moment," he added. "Pre season is the time when you have the legs tuned up and try to get some stamina back into them.

"Some of the boys only played an hour against Clyde, while some didn't play in Germany, so we'll get another 90 minute run-out on Saturday and hopefully we will be starting to peak come the Kaunas game.

"The manager has been over to watch them, but with the friendlies we've had we've probably not had too much time to concentrate on them.

"But after playing Raith Rovers on Saturday we'll start to take a closer look and when the game comes I'm sure we will be ready."