NOTTINGHAM Forest legend Garry Birtles paid a glowing tribute to Rangers new man Joe Worrall and admitted to be surprised one of his favourite players was allowed to go out on loan.

The 21-year-old defender is at Ibrox until the end of the season to get some game-time having recently struggled to establish himself in the first-team at his hometown club.

Championship club Forest believe Worrall has a big future at the cub, he did play 35 games for them last season, but felt he was best served moving to Scotland instead of sitting in the stand.

Birtles, who won two European Cups during the Brian Clough era, is a big fan of Worrall and he hopes the England youth player can return a better player after his spell in Scotland.

Birtles admitted: “I was a bit surprised to see Joe join Rangers. I liked what I’d seen from him on the pitch and he always gave everything for the cause. "You could tell he really cares about Nottingham Forest and that the club means something to him.

“Even as a young player he wasn’t afraid of having a go at his teammates either, which is something you’ve got to admire.

“But if he wasn’t going to be playing games regularly for Forest, then maybe a loan move could be good for him As a player you want to be out there on the pitch, not sat on the bench or in the stands.

“Hopefully Joe gets plenty of game time up there so he can continue his development, then come back to Forest an even better player.

“He’ll want to go there and do well; prove that he deserves to be playing games. I’m sure he’ll learn a lot from Steven Gerrard while he’s there.

Players improve by playing week in, week out. They can thrive by playing regularly.

“You want to see young players like Joe doing well for Forest, but hopefully he can go to Rangers, continuing making progress, then come back to the City Ground and show what he’s learnt.”