NICKY CLARK is confident Nathan Oduwa will rise above the crude tactics of Rangers’ Championship rivals and prove he can handle the heat in Scottish football.

The on-loan Spurs star came in for some rough treatment on Tuesday night as Mark Warburton’s side booked their place in the Petrofac Training Cup semi-finals with a 1-0 win over Livingston.

Kieran Gibbons was lucky not to receive a straight red card from whistler Andrew Dallas for a late lunge on Oduwa inside the opening minute, while Hugo Faria later caught the winger with an elbow.

The 19-year-old was replaced at half-time after several bumps and bruises and boss Warburton called for players to be given more protection from referees.

Oduwa has grabbed the headlines since making the move north of the border and Clark insists the Gers kid won’t allow tough tackling to get the better of him.

He said: “He is not that sort of boy. He has got a lot of tricks in his locker and I am sure he won’t go into his shell. He will want to keep going out there and going by defenders like he does.

“The way he plays, he is always going to, not wind up defenders, but you would get annoyed with the way he goes by players. His tricks are brilliant and he does it every day in training.

“I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t get annoyed if he went by me that easily. He probably does need a bit of protection for the kind of player he is. He is a strong boy and I am sure he will come out again and take more defenders on.

“He has definitely got that character about him. He is mentally strong as well. He knows that the defenders he is up against are going to try and have a kick at him if they have a chance to get near him.

“He has got the ability to not let them get near him. I am sure he will keep going on and going by defenders.”

It was Clark who stepped off the bench to replace Oduwa for the second half of the cup clash and the striker made the most of his chance to impress as he netted the only goal of the game with just 15 minutes remaining.

The striker has had to be patient this term as injuries and the form of Martyn Waghorn have kept him out of the side for long spells but he was delighted to be able to make the breakthrough at Ibrox.

Clark said: “Livi made it hard for us and set up well. They made it difficult for us at times, but as the manager said, we were patient, we did what we are good at and we got there in the end.

“It is difficult at times when there are a lot of boys behind the ball but we just need to make sure we are patient and keep doing the things that we have been doing since the start of the season. As long as we get the goal eventually, we will take it.

“That is what the gaffer said to me in the dressing room before we came out, to go and make an impact, get on the ball and if you get a chance take it. Fortunately I was able to do that.”