Former Sunderland and Aston Villa striker Kevin Phillips believes there will be a number of English Premier League clubs keeping tabs on Rangers captain James Tavernier ahead of the January transfer window.

The right-back has scored 12 goals and provided 9 assists in all competitions for the Light Blues so far this season and Phillips thinks posting numbers that are comparable to Harry Kane will inevitably attract attention:

“That is like Harry Kane’s stats. Wow. That is an area that Stevie G does not have to worry about. He is on fire and to have scored that many goals and those assists as well is amazing. A lot of right-backs do not get that many assists in a whole season.”

“Stevie G has given him the license to get forward and as long as when he bombs forward someone drops in, it will work. It is one hell of a stat. It is the sort of stat that Premier League teams will start to take notice of and come January a team that needs a right-back may come in for him. Long may his form continue.”

The likes of Newcastle and Aston Villa have been mentioned as possible destinations for Tavernier in the past but, with the prospect of leading Rangers to their first league title in a decade, it would be a massive surprise if he was to leave.

A departure next summer would probably be more likely if he does help his team to the Championship but fans should expect the fullback to be slotting away penalties and delivering threatening balls into the penalty box for the rest of the season at least.