IAN DURRANT has been there, done it and got a few t-shirts along the way. He has been hailed as a hero and is now a father figure to the stars of the future. He has also taken his share of knocks, lived through the lows while hoping that the glory days would one day return to Rangers.

As he helps his Murray Park kids on the road to first team football, Durrant can see light at the end of the tunnel at Ibrox as Mark Warburton leads the revolution, the 53-year-old transforming an underperforming squad and giving supporters belief once again after a stunning start to the season.

It is all positive for Rangers right now, but Durrant doesn’t need to think back long to remember one of the ultimate lows. Just days after friend, former team-mate and colleague Ally McCoist was placed on gardening leave last December, he was removed from his first team coaching role and put in charge of the Gers’ kids.

It was interim boss Kenny McDowall who was forced to make the call, the order coming from the then under-fire board as Rangers continued to toil on and off the park. Plenty – from the regime to the management team - has changed in the months since, but Durrant remains in position as Under-20 boss, determined to do his best for the club. The decision rankled with Durrant, and the way the situation unfolded hurt.

“I was disappointed at the time by the manner of how it happened,” he said. “For what I’d given the club, I’d have thought they could have taken five minutes to come and tell me I was being demoted, rather than getting a phone call telling me that I was going to be doing this.

“But I was still in a job and I couldn’t walk about with my head down. This is another project with the kids and if they’d seen me moping about it wouldn’t help them.

“So I came in and got on with it. I love it. I did it at Kilmarnock and I did it here when I first came back. It gave me a wee jolt and working with them gave me a boost when I needed it because it was hard.”

Having seen off the former regime when Dave King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan swept to power at Ibrox, Durrant has retained his place at Murray Park following the appointment of Warburton and David Weir. His overall focus is the first team, but not directly.

With the new management team keen to delve into the youth ranks when needed, Durrant has to make sure his kids will be alright when called upon. It is a challenge for his players, but one he hopes they rise to.

“They are training with the first team all the time,” he said. “The manager knows the market down south and he’s brought in quality. But we tell the boys they have to match that quality or be better.

“If they are going to let people come up on loan and get in the team, they won’t get the chance because the manager will pick the better player. I tell them when they go to train with the first team that they can’t be standing around there - they have to catch the manager’s eye.

“If you want to be a first team player, go and be a first team player. If you want to be an Under 20 player or drift around the lower leagues, you’ll do that and there will be another batch coming in.”

While Durrant remains in situ at Rangers, his friend McCoist is now free to take his career in a different direction after his contract was settled last week. A conversation with King brought his tenure to an end, but his association with the club will be long lasting and the chairman is keen for the club’s record scorer to return to Ibrox in the future.

“That will be down to Ally,” Durrant said. “I haven’t had the chance to talk to him yet.

“I read that when he spoke to Mr King last week it was all done in a minute. That’s two proper men coming together to come to an agreement. It shows that this is the proper Rangers way.

“I’d be delighted if Ally came back. I’m his best friend but it will be purely down to Ally when he thinks the time is right.”

* Rangers legend Ian Durrant was promoting the Rangers Youth Development Company and their official, weekly Rangers Lotto game at Murray Park.

All profits from the sale of Rangers Lotto tickets is directed to Rangers Football Club’s Youth Programme – which gives fans the chance to win big prizes and help support youth development at the same time.

Fans interested in becoming Official Rangers Lotto Agents can email rydc@rangers.co.uk, call 0141 427 4914 or visit www.rangerslotto.co.uk.