ROB KIERNAN hopes he can repay father figure Mark Warburton’s faith in him at Rangers.

The defender was reunited with Warburton this week when he clinched a move to Ibrox from Wigan to follow Danny Wilson into the club ahead of the new campaign.

Kiernan started his career under Warburton’s tutelage at Watford and then linked up with the 52-year-old at Brentford as he made a loan switch from the Latics three years ago.

The new Gers boss moved quickly to bring Kiernan to Glasgow as the stopper snubbed a switch to Birmingham City before signing a two-year deal with the Light Blues.

Kiernan didn’t take much convincing to make the move north of the border after he discovered Rangers’ interest in his services last week.

And now he is eager to prove Warburton has made the right call by shelling out around £200,000 to bring him from the DW Stadium.

Kiernan said: “I’ve got so much respect for him just because of what he did for me at an early age.

“I tried to get myself to Brentford a few times when he was there, but it was just that certain things didn’t work out.

“I want to do well for him. I want him to succeed and I want to be part of what he’s doing.

“You know when a manager wants you to train harder than everyone else or keeps you behind to work on this or advise you on something or supplies boots here and there that he might not do for other kids.

“It was nice. It was a bit of a father role. I just want to be playing and hopefully I can do that here.”

Kiernan may only be 24, but he has already had his fair share of stop-offs in his career as he has travelled the length and breadth of the country in search of first-team football.

The Republic of Ireland Under-21 cap has made nine loan moves to date and had a brief spell on the books of Kilmarnock five years ago. And he is determined to make the most of his chance to show what he can do on a regular basis now that he has signed on at Ibrox.

Kiernan said: “It would be nice. I’ve always been at a bigger club where I don’t want to sit on the bench or play reserve football.

“I was constantly knocking on the manager’s door asking that if this club wants to take me can I go there?

“Looking back, I wouldn’t change it because I’ve been up and down the country and learned different things from different managers, experienced different lifestyles and I think it’s been good.

“I’d advise any young lad to go and play, even if you have to move up to Scotland when you’re 17 ... just go and play.”

Having spent most of his career in the English lower leagues, Kiernan now has his sights set on the Premiership as he bids to help Rangers to title glory.

And the defender has sought some words of advice from his former Latics team-mates after making the biggest move in the game so far.

Kiernan said: “I spoke to a few of the lads there, James McArthur and James McCarthy, and there were quite a few Scottish lads and obviously the manager now, Gary Caldwell.

“I know what to expect. I know a bit, but I wasn’t aware of how big this place was. It’s going to take me a while to get used to things, but I know what’s expected.”