NICKY Clark has, despite pitching in with the occasional important goal, failed to satisfy the high expectations which were upon him when he first signed for Rangers from Queen of the South.

The forward was, with no fewer than 41 strikes to his name, the highest scorer in Great Britain in the 2012/13 season and helped the Palmerston Park club win a Second Division and Challenge Cup double.

He has certainly featured regularly for the first team at Ibrox since arriving just over two years ago and has contributed to their on-field successes in that time. The sublime winner he netted against Kilmarnock in the second minute of injury-time in the Scottish Cup fifth round replay at Rugby Park wasn’t an isolated incident.

Just this season the 24-year-old has won Rangers what was effectively the Challenge Cup quarter-final against Livingston back in November and also ensured they defeated nearest challengers Hibs in the Championship in December.

Yet, the hope among fans was that Clark would be a prolific marksman in the same mould as Ally McCoist, the manager who brought him in, when he completed his free transfer to the club he had grown up supporting as a boy. With personal goal hauls of just eight and nine in his first two campaigns - in the third and second tiers respectively - that hasn’t happened. His effort earlier this week took his tally for the first seven months of this season to six.

When he spent a night in the police cells after allegedly becoming embroiled in a late-night altercation with police at Queen Street Station in November, it attracted unfortunate headlines for a player who had to impress new manager Mark Warburton. New contract talks haven't been forthcoming.

There may now be another opportunity for Clark to establish himself in Warburton’s team as Martyn Waghorn limped off with a knee injury in Ayrshire and was later sighted hobbling about on crutches. He must, with his current deal set to expire in the summer, grasp it on this occasion. Failure to do so could result in him being moved on.

Neale Cooper, the former Rangers player, was his first senior manager at Peterhead and is adamant he has, despite his often frustrating form in the final third, the technical ability and resolve needed to flourish at the Govan club. He feels getting an extended run would be beneficial to his former protege.

“Nicky has scored a lot of good goals in the past," he said. "There may be an opportunity for him to come in now. It is up to Nicky to take it. He certainly took his goal against Kilmarnock really well.

“It's important for any player to get a regular game for their form, but more so for a striker. I played in midfield or at the back. You can get more involved in the game in those positions. It was easier to be a squad player. A striker has got to keep playing. He has to score goals for his confidence to grow.

“To score the number of goals that Nicky did at Queen of the South was amazing. He blossomed and won his move to Rangers. On the whole, he has done well for them. He’s a clever player. He knows the game. He will have learned it from his dad (former Rangers striker Sandy).

“He had been released by Aberdeen when he came to Peterhead and did a good job for us. I was never sure what Nicky’s best position was. I didn’t know whether he was an out-and-out striker or a midfield player at that time. It has been great to see him go on and win a move to Rangers.

“He hasn’t played as much this season, but Martyn Waghorn has been superb. Nicky knows when he gets a chance he has to take it. But he is that kind of player. He will get on the end of things in the box.”

Cooper had won the European Cup Winners’ Cup with Aberdeen and played for Aston Villa in the English top flight when he signed for Rangers in 1988. But he was still taken aback by the size of the club and the expectations of their supporters.

“It was quite scary,” he said. “It was in the Graeme Souness era and they had some great players like Terry Butcher, Chris Woods and Ray Wilkins. Rangers have had their problems over the last few years, but it is still a massive club and the pressure on you is extreme.

"But Nicky has got the character to cope with playing for a club like Rangers. He has got that bit of guile about him that you need to play for a club like of that magnitude. He is a confident lad. He has got that swagger about him that you need."