GREG STEWART hopes he will get a warm reception from the Kilmarnock support before he looks to upset new boss Angelo Alessio on his Rugby Park debut.

The striker will make a bow of his own on the opening weekend of the new Premiership campaign after completing a move to Rangers from Birmingham City.

Stewart is with Steven Gerrard’s side at their pre-season base in Portugal and is set to be involved in the Europa League qualifiers in the coming weeks.

Then he will make his Premiership debut for his boyhood heroes on familiar territory as Gerrard’s side head to Ayrshire on Sunday, August 4.

Stewart surprisingly quit Killie at the turn of the year as he returned to former club Aberdeen for the second half of the campaign.

And the 29-year-old knows how difficult an opener it will be for the Light Blues as new boss Alessio looks to pick up where Steve Clarke left off last season.

Stewart said: “I’ve not been back since I left in January.

“I’m sure I will get a good reception when I go back.

“It did not matter who it is I am playing against. It was always going to be difficult in the first game and it will be difficult at Kilmarnock.

“They have a new manager and it’s always a difficult place to go because they are a good team. They did unbelievable last season and it will be a tough game. But it’s one we want to win because there’s a demand on you at Rangers to win football matches.

“It’s easy for people to say that [I had a better half of the season at Kilmarnock than Aberdeen] because I scored more goals and created more chances at Kilmarnock.

“But I felt I played well at Aberdeen. I wasn’t getting the assists or the goals but I felt my all round game was consistently good. If it wasn’t I would not be at Rangers so I must have been doing something right.”

Stewart was a key part of the Killie team under Clarke and scored eight times in the first half of the season before returning to Pittodrie on a loan deal.

His former manager has since left Rugby Park to become the boss of Scotland as he was appointed as Alex McLeish’s successor at Hampden last month.

But Stewart isn’t focusing on an immediate rekindling of his working relationship with Clarke.

He said: “When you are a kid you always want to represent your country and I am no different. But right now I would say it is far from being on my mind.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do here first. I want to become fitter and stronger and become a consistent and good player at this club before I think about Scotland.”