THEY are the qualities that can turn a good player into a great player.

For Ted McMinn, confidence and consistency were the only missing ingredients for Barrie McKay this season. If added to the mix, the winger could be a sweet success at Ibrox.

McKay has a spring in his step once again after his performances against Aberdeen and Hearts. Now he needs to ensure two impressive showings become a prolonged run of form in Light Blue.

McKay has put a frustrating couple of months behind him with a superb fortnight at Ibrox and boss Mark Warburton will hope there is plenty more to come in the next few weeks.

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The 21-year-old could have had few complaints when he lost his place in Warburton’s starting line-up but his boss certainly won’t have any dissatisfaction with his response in the face of disappointment.

McKay has shown glimpses that he is getting back to his best as the Gers have kick-started their campaign with successive wins over their rivals for the best of the rest spot this term.

And former Light Blues wide man McMinn is pleased to see the Scotland international proving a point and silencing his critics.

“Nobody likes being dropped and it is the worst feeling in the world when the manager says that you are on the bench until you get back to the level you need to be at,” McMinn said.

“The manager will see him in training and will see that he has reacted in the right way and that he wants to play.

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“There is no bigger stage in Scotland than playing for Rangers and if you come in as a young lad there is a lot of pressure on you.

“The fans want you to do well but it can’t be easy. I wasn’t a young kid when I went to Rangers and I didn’t come through the ranks but it is a hard club to play for.

“Look at the last few years and how many players started their Rangers careers in the Third Division and are still there in the Premiership.

“They dropped out as the club moved through the leagues because it is hard to be a Rangers player. When you get to the top level, you have to be consistent.”

It has taken Rangers some time to adapt to top flight football as they have endured a frustrating return to the Premiership so far this season.

McKay was a stand-out for Warburton’s side in the Championship but his strike against the Jambos was only his second of a campaign that has had few highlights.

The forward is highly-rated at Ibrox and beyond. He has been tipped for a bright future in the game and already been rewarded with international honours.

Now, McMinn hopes a shot in the arm will bring out the best in him once again.

“I think he is a fantastic talent,” he said. “The goal that sticks out is the one against Celtic last season but he has had a number of good games for Rangers.

“For a winger, confidence is so important because you need that belief to take people on. I watched him at the start of the season and he seemed to want to go back all the time.

“That isn’t someone that is playing with confidence. As soon as you get the ball as a winger, your first thought should be to take on the defender. He wasn’t doing that often enough.

“My thought as a winger was to run at someone because if you ask any defender they see players with pace as a threat.

“Barrie maybe lost a bit of confidence, he wasn’t taking the full-back on and teams were doubling up on him so he was turning back to keep possession.

“When you are confident, you want the next game to come as quickly as possible. But he is a real talent and he has the ability to score goals and make goals.”

If the last two performances from McKay, and Rangers, are a sign of things to come then Warburton’s side are on their way to banishing the memories of a lacklustre Premiership run.

A lack of firepower has cost the Light Blues dear so far this term as a handful of points have been squandered and any ambitions of a title challenge were quickly extinguished.

A change of approach has earned Rangers two crucial top flight wins against their closest challengers in the standings but the Ibrox triumphs must now be built upon against Hamilton, Inverness and St Johnstone before the Hogmanay showdown with Celtic.

And McMinn hopes Warburton’s side will find their shooting boots to give them the edge in the race to be best of the rest.

He said: “If you look at Celtic, they are scoring three, four, five goals in almost every game they play and they have got a lot more options than Rangers.

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“They are getting goals from all over the park as well. Rangers don’t have an Ally McCoist at the moment that you can rely on for goals.

“You look at the squad and you don’t see someone that will get you 25, 30 goals for the season. No matter what league you are in, if you have someone with that return then you will always have a chance of being successful.

“Celtic have got players like that and that is the big difference right now. Rangers have got players that can chip in, but there is nobody that will get you 30 a season.

“In years gone by, you had midfield players like Durrant, Ferguson, Souness or Wilkins, guys that you knew would always chip in with goals. Then up front you had someone who would get you 30.

“Rangers don’t have those things at present so they need everyone in the squad to play their part if they are to achieve what they want to achieve this season.”