CRAIG MULHOLLAND is confident Rangers will reap the long-term rewards of the loan deals for Ross McCrorie and Glenn Middleton.

The Scotland youth internationalists were prominent members of the Ibrox squad during Steven Gerrard’s first campaign as Gers boss.

But both have been allowed to leave this summer and gain vital first team experience elsewhere.

McCrorie will spend the season with title chasing Portsmouth in League One, while Middleton is poised to join Hibernian after attracting interest from NAC Breda.

And Head of Academy Mulholland has no doubt they can both return to make an impression for Rangers.

He said: “Ross and Glenn have both got long term contracts, so that’s the key - they’re not going to clubs to go somewhere else because they only have a year left of their contracts.

“To make them a starter for the club rather than someone who just comes off the bench, they might need another bit of experience at another club and it’s getting the right loan.

“Billy Kirkwood is there all the time, we’re not just sending players out on loan and saying on you go, we are getting footage back every week that gets shared among the management team.

“I think until such time that we get a B team in this country and we can control the style of play and play against men’s football, the loan market is absolutely massive for us.”

Boss Gerrard is a keen supporter of the Academy system at the Hummel Training Centre and has involved a number of up-and-coming talents in his first team squad in recent months.

The 39-year-old has added eight players to his ranks this summer.

Now the challenge is for more kids to make the transition from the youth structure and earn a place at Ibrox.

Mulholland said: “The gaffer has given six debuts to Academy players - the latest was Josh McPake in the Europa League.

“The boys who are 18 or 19 are now starting to give the gaffer a thought about whether he can play them. Previously, the issue we had was that we changed the Academy about. Some of these lads were 16 or 17 and unless you’re exceptional you are not going to be playing for the first team then. But when we started the project we had 14 internationals at the Academy and now we have 42, so that’s telling us they are ready. The key bit for us is the transition phase and how we make sure they are getting what they need.”

Rangers have invested significantly in their Academy setup over the last few years as they look to produce their own players going forward.

Graeme Murty’s Under-20s will not defend their Development League title after the decision was taken to withdraw from the division.

And Mulholland hopes the programme that he has put in place will continue to give the Gers kids the best chance of making the grade.

He said: “We have Ajax lined up, who are obviously one of the top clubs for youth development.

“The Glasgow Cup is changing. Thistle, Clyde and Queen’s Park are now going to put their full team in, so for us that’s football against men.

“The Challenge Cup is football against men. They’re six of the clubs who have pulled out of the reserve leagues in England and Scotland to play friendlies home and away. Yes, we still do the Bayern Munichs and the Ajaxs, but we are also going to play against men’s first teams to give them a different challenge too.”