Jermain Defoe admits it's 'hard watching' Rangers so far this season. 

The ex-England striker insists, as a former player of the club, it's not been pretty viewing for Philippe Clement's side.

The Ibrox side are five points behind Celtic and Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership.

They travel to Rugby Park this weekend - a ground they have struggled at in the past - knowing that they can't afford many more slip-ups if a title challenge is to be mounted this season.

"If you speak to any Rangers fan or ex-players, and if we’re being totally honest, it’s been hard watching it," Defoe told Gambling.com. "We won the league when I had the player-coach role, and then after I left the boys came so close to winning the Europa League.

"I looked at it and thought they would kick on the next season, if they kept the core of good young players and experience, and possibly add a few more. But it’s actually gone the other way, and it has been tough to watch, because I try and watch every game. I go to Glasgow quite a bit, and speak to some of the boys.

"I feel like it's obvious that something needs to change. The players need to try and find their form. The players need to find some sort of consistency.

"There are games up there that people expect them to win, and you can slip-up if you don’t approach with the right frame of mind, and that’s what happened last season.

"You look at the points that Rangers dropped last season, and they're games that you would expect them to win convincingly to be honest."

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Defoe loved his three years in Glasgow, with winning the title during the coronavirus pandemic his undoubted best memory.

Now embarking on his coaching career, the 42 year-old insists he'd love to return to the club in that sort of capacity one day.

He said: "If I had the opportunity to come back to Rangers at some stage, it would be an easy decision because it is such an amazing club, and I do feel like I’ve got a special relationship with the fans.

"I spent a lot of time with Steven Gerrard and Michael Beale talking about coaching, especially in lockdown when we had that period without playing.

"I started my coaching badges with Rangers, and then completed my A-license while I was at Tottenham. Since then, I’ve had loads of conversations with clubs. I actually had a conversation with Rangers last year, and told them that I would love to come back in some sort of role at the football club.

"Even when you’ve played at the top-level for 20 odd years there’s no guarantee you’re going to be a good coach. You have to do the courses and learn as much as you can. I’m so glad that I did the academy stuff at Tottenham, learning a lot about stuff I didn’t even know existed.

"You just learn so much, and I would advise players that want to go into coaching to do their badges while they are still playing, because you see the game completely differently."