Rangers assistant manager Gary McAllister has showered midfielder Ryan Jack with praise after the 27-year-old was handed a new three and half year contract by the club.

Steven Gerrard‘s right-hand man explained how he identified attributes in the Scottish international’s game that hadn’t been fully utilised by previous managers.

McAllister feels that Jack had only previously been played as a midfield enforcer rather than a playmaker and that the coaching staff decided to develop other aspects of his game after their arrival 16 months ago:

“I watched him quite a lot playing for Aberdeen when I was working in TV, and I felt he was probably pigeonholed a little bit. I think we saw a player who was just there to stop things and to break up play – maybe he was quite happy doing that.”

“But, on arrival here, we could see he was capable of much more. Not only does he do that, but in most of our good build-up play, he is at the start. He builds a lot of the play for us.”

Jack has certainly been one of Gerrard’s key lieutenants since being appointed. He made 46 appearances in all competitions last season, making 41 starts.

This campaign, he has been almost ever-present when fit, and his absence was keenly felt as the Gers drew 1-1 against Hearts last weekend. The midfielder has returned to training in the last few days and Gerrard is hopeful that he’ll be fit to face Porto tomorrow night.