STUART McCALL is confident Shane Ferguson is mentally ready for the challenge of playing for Rangers as he looks to get physically fit as quickly as possible.

The Northern Ireland international became the last of the five Newcastle loan stars to check into Murray Park this week after he finally arrived in Glasgow, weeks after signing his short-term deal.

Ferguson has not played for several months because of a knee problem and didn't feature for the Light Blues' Under-20s against Dundee United yesterday due to the plastic pitch at Station Park in Forfar.

Rangers have a maximum of seven games left this term as they bid for promotion via the play-offs and McCall hopes the winger can play his part.

He said: "He's been out for five months and has trained for the past two weeks, but the one good thing about Shane is his mental state. He trained on Monday and, having spoken to him, I was really impressed with that.

"In my mind, if you've been out that long you're going to need four to six weeks to get back on track.He certainly won't be ready in the next couple of weeks, but he did a lot of hard work on Monday and yesterday.

"But when you've been out that long it's not just the physical aspect, it's the mental aspect, however he seems really focused. So that was pleasing.

"Hopefully he might play a part in the back end of the season, but he won't be involved in the short-term because he needs games."

Having made his way to Glasgow this week, Ferguson will now attempt to catch McCall's eye for the season finale.

The 23-year-old has first-team experience with Newcastle and Birmingham City and the Ibrox boss knows he could have a good player on his hands.

McCall said: "I saw him for Newcastle but only on the telly, I saw him at Birmingham live and I remember him being a decent player.

"I spoke to Michael O'Neill about him a couple of months ago before I came to Rangers, what his best position was because he's filled in a lot at left-back for Ireland, but prob-ably his best position is up on the left.

"He's a very good crosser of the ball, he's shown that in the sessions we've done.

"He's settled in quickly in the dressing room and if needed he'll be a good one to call upon."

Rangers head to Livingston tonight aiming to take another step towards a place in the top flight following their 4-0 win over Raith Rovers on Sunday.

Lee McCulloch returns to the squad after serving a two-game ban for his red card against Hearts and McCall could chop and change his squad for the Lions clash.

He said: "We've had a couple of lads who have trained and we'll see how they react to the niggles they've had."