ANDY Halliday wouldn’t be where he is today if it wasn’t for Livingston. The midfielder had been unceremoniously dumped by his boyhood heroes Rangers at the age of 15 when the West Lothian club offered him the chance to rebuild his career.

While the quality on offer to the West Lothian side as they prepare to visit Ibrox on Saturday isn’t quite what it used to be – their matchday squad the day Halliday made his debut included Leigh Griffiths, Graham Dorrans, Robert Snodgrass, Murray Davidson and James McPake – Halliday clearly retains an affection for the place, while his grandfather Jack Taylor had a season ticket for the place as recently as last season. It was only when Halliday, after a stint south of the border at Bradford, returned to Scottish football this summer that he traded it in again for his old spot at Ibrox.

“It will be nice to play Livingston,” said Halliday ahead of the Ibrox meeting in the Ladbrokes championship. “I have a lot to thank that club for – they picked me back up from the biggest low point of my career – when I was released at a young age from Rangers. They were the team who got me back involved in football, who gave me that platform to be in a first team at a very young age. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for Livingston. I’ve not been fortunate enough to go back to Almondvale since I left and this is obviously a home game but I’ll look forward to all the fixtures we have against them this season.

“There has been a big turnover there in terms of players so I don’t know any of the lads there now,” he added. “But I’m hoping to see some familiar faces in and around the backroom staff. I might not, but at the end of the day there are also fans who supported me when I was young boy. I will be sure to give them a clap because it is the least they deserve.

“When I started playing down in England, it was a bit too far for my grand-dad to travel every week so he continued to watch Livingston for a few years. But now I’m back at Rangers he has got a Rangers season ticket again. The Livi fans are probably not too happy, because he’s jumped ship again!”

Halliday was speaking as the Rangers Charity Foundation announced a partnership with the Glasgow City Mission, where his mother Lynne works in the Govan branch, and also for the first time since his pal Scott Allan decided to join Celtic, rather than join him at Rangers. He rebuffed enquiries on the subject yesterday. “I’ve known the boy for a long time but at the end of the day, questions are getting asked about Scott Allan and I’m only concerned about Rangers,” he said. “That’s all I’m interested in.”

Rangers have made an impressive beginning to their Championship campaign and Halliday, excelling in an unfamiliar deep midfield role, has more than played his part. He worked under national team boss Gordon Strachan at Middlesbrough and turned up at Hampden on Monday night to watch Scotland go down 3-2 to World Champions Germany but any ambitions to play for his country remain remote for now.

“Gordon is a terrific manager,” said Halliday. “I worked with him at Middlesbrough and I went to Hampden to watch the game against Germany on Monday. I’ve been fortunate to work under very good managers and he’s certainly one of the best. I’ve not managed to talk to him since I’ve been up here but I’m seeing the good work he’s doing with Scotland. It was an unfortunate couple of results but that won’t take away from some of the positive results he has had.

“But I’m just a Scotland fan just now,” he added. “I’m just watching their games and hoping they get good results. Most of the Scotland squad have played numerous games and there are quite a lot of them still in the Premier League. That’s a long way off for me just now and I’m just concentrating on Rangers.”

Halliday was called a ‘big game player’ by his former Bradford manager Phil Parkinson but at Rangers he is quickly learning that there is no such thing. “I feel every game is a big game for me at Rangers,” he said. “I feel as if I’ve still got a lot to prove to people. It’s never easy when you play for Rangers because every team wants to beat you. It’s their cup final so we need to make sure we are on top form every game, because complacency can kill momentum.”

Halliday paid tribute to the former Derby midfielder John Eustace, who has been training with the club for months now but has yet to sign. The veteran has been invaluable at showing him the ropes in that that deeper role.

“For me personally, I’d be delighted if John signs because this has been quite a new role for me and he has been mentoring me a wee bit,” said Halliday. “I’ve got a lot to thank John about for the start of the season I’ve had and I hope he does sign because it would be another good squad member who would hopefully help us achieve our goals at the end of the season. The more experienced boys we have in to help the younger ones the better.”