IAN DURRANT is sitting in the youth reception at Murray Park when two of the most promising young players at the club make an appearance.

John Fleck is hoping to take five minutes out to read the security man's newspaper; Dean Furman pops his head in from the corridor to see who is around.

Before the pair of them know it, they've been cornered to run an errand for their boss.

As potential midfield stars of the future, the pair know they couldn't have asked for a better mentor than the Ibrox legend.

Durrant was in exactly the same position before he went on to become a massive favourite with the Ibrox legions.

And he is determined to make sure that the likes of Fleck and Furman, and other would-be stars, are provided with the best opportunity to make the grade.

Durrant has been promoted to first-team coach by Walter Smith, the man he has always called gaffer, and on a daily basis works with his best pal Ally McCoist and Kenny McDowall to put the top team players through training.

But while he is thriving on the added responsibility of working at first-team level again, Durrant can't help reverting back to talking about the kids at Rangers.

It's clear he takes great pride in trying to help them fulfill the dream he lived himself years ago and thinks the future looks bright for Rangers.

Murray Park has been slated for not producing enough young talent, but Durrant disputes that.

He said: "If you look at the bigger picture, when was the last time Liverpool or Manchester United brought through a young player who plays in the first XI every week?

"Now ourselves and Celtic do bring through players. This year we've had Stevie Smith, up until he got injured, Alan Hutton, Charlie Adam and Allan McGregor.

"They are all mainstays of the team and, looking farther back, there was Barry Ferguson, who is the backbone of the side. Chris Burke has also broken through in the last couple of years.

"So not counting Barry, who was starting before Murray Park was built, that is five players in the first team every week, who came through our youth system."

Durrant believes Rangers' decision to work with a group of younger players this season, more or less doubling up their under-19s side as their reserve team, will benefit long term.

"Maybe next year or the year after we'll see benefits," he said. "There is an abundance of talent here. It takes time. They need guidance, they need to go along the right path before they are ready to be first-team players.

"It is only going to get better. Years ago we all fell into the trap and chased the dream when we had money to spend."

He added: "But we don't have that money now and the onus is on us, as a football club, to rear our own players.

"We know what we have to do and we will make sure we can produce kids who are good enough to go on and start for Rangers. We've a number of lads who have been involved in the senior squads recently and made it on to the bench for a few games.

"Andy Shinnie, Stevie Lennon, Jordan McMillan, Paul Emslie, Alan Lowing and Dean Furman have all taken places on the bench the last couple of months, which is great for them and a good experience to be involved in the first team on a matchday.

"Hopefully, we can make sure of a Champions League place for next season by securing second place in the SPL and then these kids will maybe get a chance to be involved before the end of the season."

Durrant's promotion to first-team duties since Smith's arrival hasn't prevented him from working with the kids.

He explained: "Although I'm on the training field with the senior squad almost every day, I'm also still committed to the youths. I'm still working with the under-19s and move between the two roles at times.

"If Billy Kirkwood and Tommy Wilson have a lot of numbers for training with the youths, then I'll go across and help them out.

"We don't really have a reserve side this season. We took the view of bringing on a lot of younger players this year so we've got an under-17 side and the 19s, and some double up to make up a reserve team.

"But next year we'll have eight of them promoted to our reserves, so I'll have a team to train then in the hope that we can get them pushing up to first-team level."

With the effort and passion Durrant puts into their progress, it shouldn't be long before they make the grade.