THE mentality and the attitude defy his lack of years, but Joe Worrall certainly has time on his side. At Rangers, he could come of age.

The Englishman may be a relatively unknown quantity in Glasgow but his talent and his potential haven’t exactly been secrets south of the border since he first burst onto the scene at Dagenham and Redbridge.

That loan spell yielded 15 appearances and plenty of plaudits, but it was Worrall’s endeavours with Nottingham Forest the following campaign that really forged his reputation as one of the brightest young talents in England.

Such was his promise, Burnley tried, and failed, with an £11.5million bid in January as Forest stood firm to retain a player that would become an integral part of the team during just his third season of first team football.

Now, Worrall finds himself away from the City Ground once again. It could be seen as a step back, but the 21-year-old has the ability to stride forward.

For Reds legend Kenny Burns, twice a European Cup winner, a loan move to Rangers could be the making of the man and those that know little about Worrall could soon discover exactly what he is all about as he looks to establish himself for Steven Gerrard’s side.

“He will be a leader,” Burns told SportTimes. “He was made captain and he has gone in and given senior players a bollocking, saying they are not good enough and not trying hard enough.

“That is the attitude of the boy and that is a great asset to have. He is an honest lad and you can’t ask for any more than that.

“He has got an old head on young shoulders and he is not frightened of letting people know if they are not putting a performance in. He has done that at Forest and he will do that at Rangers.

“He had a bit of a rant in the dressing room saying ‘you have not done this, you have not done that, you are nowhere near’.

“He is not frightened of letting people know and that is a great thing because there are too many players that aren’t like that. There were games at Forest, until he came into the team, where nobody got a bollocking off another player.

“We are not all perfect, if you make a mistake you get told off for it and you move on. You have got a winner there.”

It may have been another lamentable campaign for Forest last term but the progression of Worrall was one of the few highlights for the Reds.

The appointment of Aitor Karanka, the Spaniard replacing former Ibrox boss Mark Warburton in the dugout, has been the catalyst for change in the City Ground squad.

With the first team football that he needs seemingly not guaranteed, Worrall has now secured a temporary switch to Rangers as he seeks to prove his worth once again.

“He is a young lad that came in at Forest and went and played at Under-20s for England,” Burns said.

“He came back and was in the first team and I think he got a wee bit drained. You can’t do too much, you can spoil a young kid.

“I think he has gone to Rangers to get experience and, to be fair, Forest have got options and experienced players in his position. They want experience in the team.

“He has gone to Rangers to learn his trade because he is still a young man. But he is honest, he is willing to learn and with Steven Gerrard there he will learn and come on.

“He will learn the right things. Karanka, the manager, wouldn’t want to put him out to a Portsmouth, Notts County or Plymouth.

“He wants him to get good experience and I don’t think you can get a better experience than going up there to Rangers and playing in front of those crowds and under that pressure.”

Worrall may not be what Karanka is looking for right now but the stopper seems destined for a bright future in the game as he looks to go from strength to strength this season.

He signed a new long-term contract with his boyhood club last year, while Crystal Palace were also credited with an interest before Burnley saw their bid rebuffed by the Reds board.

Burns said: “He learns quickly but there are still things he can improve on and he has a long way to go. It is that old cliché about how you never stop learning.

“You are learning all the time but you need to do the business and going to Rangers is a chance for Joe to improve and come back to Forrest an even better player.

“The fact that Forrest turned down £11million last summer, that shows how highly they regard him. They are hoping he goes to Rangers, he does the business there and they could have a £20million or £30million player on their hands.

“That is how highly they regard him. If they didn’t think he was going to do it, they would probably have sold him.”

A fortnight after he put pen-to-paper on a season-long loan deal, Worrall could finally make his Rangers debut when Gerrard’s side face Dundee this weekend.

Connor Goldson and Nikola Katic continued their partnership against Celtic before the international break but Burns believes it won’t be long before Worrall is staking his claim for a jersey.

“He has gone there and he would have had the chance to see what matches like the Celtic game that mean to Rangers and the supporters,” Burns said. “He will see what they need there.

“I have watched them myself and I think he will just walk into the team. I have to admit, I wasn’t that impressed with them and I didn’t see them dominating anything and letting people know things.

“I didn’t see that, but that is what you will see from Worrall. I think he is a winner and I couldn’t give the lad more praise.

“He has only played a handful of games and someone like Sean Dyche at Burnley wants to play over £11million for him. That just shows you how good people think he is.”