NICKY CLARK insists his Rangers team-mate Nathan Oduwa will become stronger the more often opponents attempt to kick him out of the game.

Oduwa was the subject of rough treatment from Livingston during his side's 1-0 Petrofac Training Cup win at Ibrox on Tuesday night and was replaced by Clark at half-time as a result of carrying an injury.

Mark Warburton, the Rangers manager, asked for greater protection for his players after the match with Oduwa clearly seen to plead with referee Andrew Dallas for some support at the half-time interval.

Livingston's Declan Gallagher was cautioned for a first half foul on the England Under-20 winger, but Kieran Gibbons was allowed to escape scot-free from a dreadful challenge in the opening minute which left Oduwa in a crumpled heap on the turf.

Clark is clear, though, when asked whether Oduwa will be spurred on to new heights by further endeavours to stop him by foul means.

"Definitely," he stated. "Most of the boys in the dressing room are like that.

"If people want to come and kick you and try to mess you about, we will just get up and go even harder at them.

"Nathan has got a lot of tricks in his locker and I am sure he won't go into his shell. He is not that sort of boy.

"He will want to keep going out there and going by defenders like he does.

"He has come up from down south, where there is a lot of pressure on him given the club he is at. He has taken it in his stride and is a great talent to watch

"He has definitely got that character about him. He is mentally strong.

"He knows that the defenders he is up against are going to try and have a kick at him if they have a chance to get near him. He has got the ability to not let them get near him."

Clark agrees, however, with Warburton's assertion that match officials must be more conscious of protecting Oduwa from some of the wilder challenges he has been subjected to since arriving at Ibrox on loan from Tottenham Hotspur.

"He probably does need a bit of protection because of the kind of player he is," said Clark.

"I am not saying he winds defenders up, but given he way he plays and goes past players, you would get annoyed with him.

"His tricks are brilliant and he does it every day in training. I would be lying if I said I wouldn't get annoyed if he went by me that easily."