Barrie McKay keeps promise and signs Rangers deal

McKay, along with team-mates Lewis Macleod and Robbie Crawford, vowed to pledge himself to Rangers until 2017 back in August. However, Scottish Football Association rules barred the player from signing his new contract until he turned 18 on 30 December.

With the red tape now out of the way, McCoist revealed his delight at securing the player on a long-term agreement. He told www.rangers.co.uk: “We have now completed the contractual process with Barrie.

“He deserves it. We want the best years of his career to be at Rangers, as we do with all of the young players who are doing well for us. It’s a boost for them to sign these deals and it’s a boost for us, too. It also shows the fans that good talent is coming through at Murray Park.”

McKay has scored four goals in 30 appearances for the club this term and McCoist believes the teenager has more to offer.

“Barrie is still very young and he does things that young players do, but we have been very encouraged by him,” he said. “However, he is at a far greater stage in terms of his progression than we thought he would be which is great, but, of course, he still has a long way to go.”

There was also bad news for Rangers yesterday, however, as it emerged that Darren Cole will miss the rest of the season after undergoing ankle surgery. The 21-year-old full-back has been out of action since suffering  the injury against Annan on  2 January

Cole has seen his progress stunted by a series of injury problems suffered since making his senior debut in a Champions League clash with Bursaspor in December 2010. But McCoist is hopeful that the youngster’s woes will be behind him after successfully going under the knife. He said: “Surgery is something we feared before the Annan game when he suffered the injury because we were worried his ankle was not strong enough. Sadly that has happened. So that’s the season over for Darren, but hopefully he has set his sights on being back strong in the summer with a view to next season.”