JON DALY has vowed to stay on the goal trail with Rangers - and make it impossible for manager Ally McCoist to move him back to centre- half.

Daly scored four goals for the first time in his professional career in the 8-0 rout over Stenhousemuir at Ibrox on Saturday.

His impressive personal haul in the SPFL League One game took the striker's tally for the 2013/14 campaign to seven in all competitions.

The 30-year-old prefers to operate up front, but has on occasions in the past dropped back into defence.

And Light Blues gaffer McCoist has stated he could field him in his rearguard if he is hit by sudden injuries and suspensions.

With the legendary former goalscoring kingpin missing out on two defenders last week - Boris Pandza and Marius Zaliukas, now linked with Queens Park Rangers - the likelihood of that happening increased.

The former Dundee United player has repeatedly stressed he is happy to play wherever his manager selects him as long as he gets a game.

But he wants to play as a striker and reckons if he keeps hitting the target McCoist will find it difficult to replace him.

"I am always happy whenever I am named in the starting line-up on a Saturday no matter where I am in the team," he said.

"That has been the case at all of the clubs I have been at during my career and it is very much the case here at Rangers.

"This is obviously a huge club and whenever you are given the chance to play for it you have to take it. I want to play in every game if I can.

"I played at centre-half when I was at Dundee United when I was needed and if need be, if we are short of bodies, I can do the same here at Rangers.

"If the manager needs me to drop back to centre-half when we pick up injuries and suspensions then I will certainly do that no problem.

"But obviously my preference is to play up front. I was signed as a striker and that is where I have been played in the games I have been involved in so far. I suppose if I can keep scoring goals then it will make it very hard for the manager to move me so that is a good incentive for me to keep doing so.

"I am a striker and I want to play up front. But at a club like Rangers I appreciate you have to go where the manager wants you to go."

Daly hogged the headlines at the weekend when he became the first Rangers player since Kris Boyd back in 2009 to score four goals in a game.

But the Dubliner believes his team-mates deserve as much praise for their contribution to the Ibrox club's success in the 2013/14 campaign.

He feels he has benefited greatly from the service provided by Ian Black, Nicky Law, Lewis Macleod, Arnold Peralta and others in recent weeks.

And the versatile player is hopeful he can continue to get his name on the scoresheet with so many dead-ball specialists alongside him in the Gers team.

He said: "We have scored a lot of goals from set-pieces and did so once again at the weekend. We have got a few players who can score in the air.

"But we have certainly got players in the side who can put the ball into danergous positions for us. The strikers in the team have a lot to thank them for.

"We have got a lot of guys who have got great delivery into the box. If you can get into good scoring positions in the opposition box they will get the ball to you. If they continue to supply us with such good balls I can see us scoring plenty more goals this season. We have got a few players who can hit the target as well.

"Lee McCulloch is amazing. He has scored a lot of goals for us this season playing at centre-half.

"We have players in every position who can score if they get the opportunity to do so."

Meanwhile, Daly has dismissed suggestions that Rangers will steamroller all before them in League One this season after their latest emphatic victory.

The win over Stenhousemuir - who remain in third place in the table despite the heavy defeat - was their seventh consecutive victory in the league.

The Gers have now scored a total of 32 goals in the division and have conceded just two goals to Brechin and Arbroath.

Many pundits are predicting the full-time club could break all sorts of records - for goals scored and points accumulated - in the months ahead.

But Daly still expects the Glasgow club to have some awkward fixtures in the third tier of Scottish football and is not taking anything for granted. He added: "I have been a player at a smaller club before in the past when I started my career down in England with Stockport and know what it is like playing a bigger club.

"You definitely raise your game to a higher standard when you play a bigger club either at their stadium or at your own place. It is like a cup final for these teams.

"We had a difficult afternoon against Forfar at Station Park little over a week ago so we know what can happen if we are not right on top of our game.

"This is going to be a long and difficult season and we are not underestimating any team that we play. It would be disrespectful of us to do so."