JASON Holt’s decision to depart Hearts at the end of last season due to the lack of first team opportunities which had become available to him at Tynecastle was commendable.

Being involved in a match every weekend, and furthering himself as a player as a result, was preferable to sitting on the bench collecting his wage to the former Scotland Under-21 internationalist.

However, was signing for Rangers this week, a larger club which has far greater competition in central midfield, necessarily a smart move by the 22-year-old?

Holt found it difficult to get a start ahead of Morgaro Gomis, Prince Buaben and Miguel Pallardo towards the end of his time in Edinburgh. But it will be far from straightforward to play regularly with Andy Halliday, Nicky Law, Andy Murdoch and Dean Shiels all vying for selection in Glasgow.

No sooner had he put pen to paper on a three year deal with the Ladbrokes Championship hopefuls on Wednesday afternoon and it emerged his new club had made a bid for another player in his position.

Hibs confirmed yesterday they had rejected a bid in the region of £100,000 for Scott Allan from their second tier title rivals earlier this week. It will almost certainly not be the last offer they will receive for him.

Yet, Holt is confident the brand of attacking football new manager Mark Warburton is determined for his Rangers side to play in the 2015/16 season will be to his liking and will ensure he flourishes at Ibrox.

He is looking forward to proving his former Hearts manager Robbie Neilson wrong for overlooking him last season in the months ahead and collecting his second successive Championship winners’ medal.

“Scott Allan is a Hibs player just now so I can’t comment on that,” he said. “But I think as a player you thrive on competition. It is a challenge. Every player who comes to the club faces a challenge. But it is one that I am looking forward to.

“I wanted to come here. As soon as I came in the door you got a real sense of excitement and anticipation about the coming season. All the boys were really positive and you could sense that there’s hope that it’s going to be good.

“I’ve been really impressed with the manager. When I came in at first the boys were full of praise for him and when I saw it for myself I was really impressed. The training has been great.

“The style of play the manager is looking to implement is exciting. I think the fans saw the other night against Burnley the style of play we are going to produce. It is the right way forward. I think it excites all the players and suits all the players here.

“I think in the games we have played so far we’ve shown that we’ve gelled quite well already. In training as well, the intensity was really high. I think there is a real togetherness with the boys. It was good to get a Championship medal last season and my aim for this season is to get another one. Hopefully we can go out and do really well this season.”

Despite playing in enough games to receive a Championship medal with Hearts last term, Holt grew frustrated at the game time he was getting and ended up going out on loan to English League One club Sheffield United.

He performed superbly for the Blades in the second half of the season and scored no fewer than five goals from midfield in their last eight games to help them clinch a play-off spot.

The Edinburgh-born player, who is set to make his competitive debut against Hibs in the first round of the Petrofac Training Cup at Easter Road tomorrow, is hopeful he can make a similar impact at his new club.

He said: “As a player, when you speak to your manager you just want an honest answer. Robbie was great in that respect. He gave me honest answers. That is what you look for. It helped me. I knew what his plans were so that was it.

“I appreciated the honesty. It was good to have an honest answer. But I think in football you’re always looking to prove everyone wrong. There are always people out there watching you and you just have to do your best.”

“I was a wee bit disappointed, but that is football, players come and go all the time. If you let your head go down then you’re not helping yourself at all. I think the only thing for it is to keep the head up, keep feeling positive and keep looking ahead to the future.

“That’s what I did. I came in here and signed here, so I’m really happy. I’m here now as a Rangers player and I’m delighted."