RANGERS hat-trick hero Andy Little today tipped teenage wonderkid Barrie McKay to shine in the Irn-Bru Third Division.

Little walked away with the Man-of-the-Match champagne at Ibrox after banging in three goals against East Stirlingshire in the 5-1 thrashing.

But the Light Blues striker was maybe lucky McKay is only 17 and would have been unable to accept the award. For the Paisley lad was superb after he replaced Dean Shiels – who looks set to miss the Ramsden's Cup clash with Falkirk tomorrow – in the first half.

Little's seen the teenager come through the youth ranks and reckons he can become an important player for Ally McCoist's team.

He said: "Barrie has got into the team this season and has done really well.

"He has been given his chance and has proved he can do a job.

"He deserved extra credit at the weekend because he didn't start. He came on and showed what he can bring to the team.

"The ball he played in to Lee McCulloch for the last goal shows the quality he has.

"It is great that young boys like Barrie and Lewis MacLeod are keeping their places even with the signings that we have coming in."

Little believes the experience of playing in front of huge crowds with Rangers on a weekly basis will bring the skilful starlet on as a player.

He added: "It doesn't matter what league it is, playing in front of 49,000 fans is brilliant for any young player coming through.

"The more games he can get doing that then the more he is going to improve as a player. I am sure he'll feature more.

"I felt Barrie deserved a lot of praise for how he played at the weekend given the circumstances. Both he and Lewis did superbly well."

Despite the 5-1 win over minnows East Stirlingshire, Little believes Rangers face a tough task overcoming Falkirk in the Challenge Cup tomorrow.

The Glasgow club lost out to the Bairns in the League Cup at Westfield last season when they had a team full of internationalists.

Little said: "I'm under no illusions that it will be a really tough game when we play Falkirk tomorrow night.

"It will certainly be the toughest game we have had this season. We got turned over there last season and will need to be at our best.

"If we go about our business the right way then we should get the result."