WHEN Liam Kelly was a youngster at Rangers, he was tipped by some to go on to fill Allan McGregor’s gloves for the club. He might not have had the opportunity to do so in a figurative sense for the Ibrox first-team, but it was a dream come true nonetheless when he literally pulled those gloves on in training.

Kelly, who will come up against McGregor for loan club Motherwell at lunchtime today, has always been grateful for the help that the Rangers number one gave him as a kid, whether that was a piece of friendly advice in training, or some training gear when his was falling to bits.

“When I first went full-time at Rangers he was the goalkeeper for the first team, and he was really good with all the young goalies then,” Kelly said.

“When I played against him at Livi and we managed to win against them when Dolly Menga scored, that was an unbelievable experience, to be training with him when you are so young and then to be winning a game against him.

“But Greegsy is the best. I don’t think anyone could argue with that. If you could have half or even a third of the career that he has had, then that would be unbelievable.

“It was just small things that he would never mention. For instance, if you had an old pair of gloves on and he looked at them and didn’t like them, he’d tell you to go and take a pair out of his locker.

“It doesn’t seem much, but it’s massive when you’re so young. It was probably nothing to him, he’s probably got hundreds of gloves, but to be wearing a pair of Allan McGregor’s gloves back then was unbelievable.

“It’s just how he conducts himself as well. He’s first in the gym every single morning, it’s just wee things like that you maybe wouldn’t expect off Allan McGregor, but that maybe shows why he’s still there.”

Kelly himself has flourished since leaving Ibrox, and he crosses paths with them again as a more rounded and mature keeper.

A wonderful spell at Livingston earned him a life-changing move to Queens Park Rangers, where he works under former Rangers manager Mark Warburton. He made 22 appearances for the Loftus Road club last term, but has come to Motherwell in search of regular games after being kept out of the team by the fine form of former Dundee keeper Seny Dieng this term.

His short-term aims are to establish himself at Motherwell before working his way back into contention for QPR in the summer, but having watched former Livingston teammate Declan Gallagher play his way into Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad while at Fir Park, might he too be able to use this platform to force himself into the reckoning for the European Championship squad?

“First and foremost I need to train and play well for Motherwell,” he said. “If I get picked for Scotland then I get picked for Scotland. It is not something I can control. I can control what I do here, though, by trying to do my very best.

“Obviously I am aware that Declan and Stephen O’Donnell have been picked while playing for Motherwell but being honest, that was not in my thinking.

“I was just grateful Motherwell gave me an opportunity to play games again. I am really happy to be playing games, delighted to be here. There is obviously a big game on Sunday for us and I am not focused on anything other than playing well for Motherwell. I can’t control it so there is no point in my thinking about it at the moment.

“It was great to see Dec again. I watch a lot of Scottish football and I played for Livingston so all the boys were familiar faces. I am well aware of the quality they have got here and I am well aware of the quality Dec has got. Obviously he has kicked on a bit since he has come to Motherwell.

“Motherwell have helped him and pushed him on. It was really good to have in front of me [against St Mirren] as it was with the other lads. I didn’t think we were ever troubled, I didn’t feel as though St Mirren were going to score.

“Of course the referee made the decision to give a penalty and that cost us a goal but in terms of first games, it was as good as I could have hoped for in terms of the boys helping me and making things easy for me."

"I am really happy to be playing games, delighted to be here. There is obviously a big game on Sunday for us and I am not focussed on anything other than playing well for Motherwell."