WHEN Stephen Kelly bossed the midfield against Brighton in a pre-season friendly at Ibrox back in July, excitement grew amongst supporters that he was ready to cement his place in the Rangers engine room.

However, first team opportunities would fail to materialise for the 21-year-old which prompted his January loan switch to English outfit Salford City.

Kelly would spend the first six months of the campaign on the outside looking in with his only glimpse of action limited to a 12-minute substitute appearance against Dunfermline in the League Cup and the briefest of cameos against Alashkert at Ibrox in a Europa League qualifier.

He may be delighting the Ammies fans with his displays but Kelly told The Rangers Review, he was hoping to do so in front of the Ibrox faithful after impressing in pre-season.

He said: “Of course, I was frustrated, especially after my pre-season and two previous loans but I suppose everybody wants to play.

“I think having that six months of not playing, you don’t realise the effect it might have on you in terms of getting back up to speed and how you feel on a pitch.

“I feel my two loans in Scotland did improve me a lot and got me into a good place last summer.

“If you’re not playing you should be frustrated, no matter where it is but I just had to keep pushing and keep pushing and hope that I got a chance but obviously it never really came.

“After pre-season, I had a few conversations with the manager and he was, as were all the coaching staff, pretty happy with how I had done.

“I knew it was always going to be difficult to get in the team having just won the league but I felt I was in a good place and I felt if I was going to get a chance it would’ve been the right time.”

READ MORE: Life on loan from Rangers: Lewis Mayo on Ibrox feedback system, developing his game and finding consistency at Partick Thistle

After spells at Ayr United and Ross County previously, Kelly says the decision to venture south of Hadrian’s Wall was the right one following a discussion with Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

He said: “The manager just felt it would’ve been best for me to go and play most weeks and that was the best thing to do.

“It is a very physical and demanding league and there’s a lot of duels which is a bit of the game I’ve had to improve on but I’ve enjoyed it.

“I think the run in the team and playing 90 minutes most weeks is helping me a lot.

“I’ve already played 13 games here and that’s how many games there were left in the Scottish leagues when I came down so to have another 10 games left, just shows you how demanding it is.

“Growing up at Rangers, the ball was always on the ground, you were winning most weeks and the games were easy but I think coming here teaches you how to fight, compete and when you get on the ball you need to show your quality as well.

“I just felt if I could come to England and challenge myself in League Two and show I could deal with that league, enhance the team and enhance myself then it’s only going to improve me as a player.”

Kelly has been ever-present in Gary Bowyer’s side and has been catching the eye. He was named in the League Two Team of the Week following an impressive showing against Scunthorpe last weekend and capped his performance with a stunning goal.

He beamed: “It’s probably the best goal I’ve scored.

“Growing up, I’ve always got goals from midfield but they maybe dried up a bit last year. It’s something that I personally want to make sure I’ve got in my game.

“I didn’t even look at the goal, I just knew where I wanted to put it and it’s gone in so I was delighted.”

READ MORE: Rangers' dressing room rage at Hibs 'idiots', being wrong about Alfredo Morelos and feeling a knee 'wobbling around' - Martyn Waghorn interview

Kelly’s performances haven’t gone unnoticed with the Ibrox hierarchy and despite entering the final year of his contract in the summer, he still harbours ambitions that he’ll make the breakthrough into the Rangers first team.

He said: “The loan manager, Billy Kirkwood watches all the games.

“He’s been at a few and he watches them online. He’s been speaking to the guys at Salford as well so I’ve still got that link with Billy back up the road.

“Playing for Rangers is always what I’ve looked to do but I’m only focusing on here, to be honest.

“Hopefully we can sneak into the playoffs. Obviously it’s very tight at the top of the league but if we can get into the playoffs it’ll help everybody.

"But for me, I’m just focusing on that for the time being and take the summer when I get there.”

Despite playing his football away from his beloved Rangers, Kelly keeps a close eye on events at Ibrox and has been blown away by their recent European heroics.

He said: “The last couple of weeks in Europe has been brilliant.

“The levels they’ve been playing at especially against Dortmund has been pretty impressive.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on the games on a Sunday as well when they’re playing. It’s very tight at the top of the league but hopefully, they can get the job done.”

The Auchenhowie conveyer belt of talent has seen Alex Lowry burst onto the scene lately and Kelly says the 18-year-old is something special.

“Recently, he’s shown he’s definitely got flashes of brilliance in him.

“He looks a very talented player.

"I played a couple of games with him in the B team but I think you’ve seen recently and with Scotland where he scored a couple of goals that he definitely looks like he’s got a lot of talent.”