DESPITE his stand-out performance at the heart of the Rangers rearguard in Saturday's four-goal mauling of Gretna, Andy Webster will have to be patient in his bid to nail down a regular first team starting place.

That is the view of Ibrox nine-in-a-row defensive hero John Brown.

But while Webster may face a term of frustration as he vies with Gers veteran David Weir for the right to partner Carlos Cuellar on a regular basis, Bomber has no doubt that the 25-year-old will ultimately satisfy his burning ambition to help buttress the Ibrox backline.

And Brown believes an episode from his own illustrious Gers career should offer the Scotland stopper some succour.

Bomber said: "I was delighted to see Andy coming in against Gretna at the weekend and having a fine game which he capped with a goal. He has had a tough time with all the contract problems and then of course an injury, but now Andy will be feeling that is all behind him at last.

"I expect that Walter Smith will stay faithful with the Davie Weir-Carlos Cuellar partnership for the time being, but that is not something that should get Andy down because over the course of a campaign that could be around the 50-game mark, he will get his chance.

"I remember playing for Rangers when I had been having a particularly good spell of form and then Graeme Souness signed Oleg Kuznetsov, the Russia international.

"He took me in to his office and told me that although he knew I'd been doing really well for him, his plan was to go with Oleg for the foreseeable future."

He went on: "That meant I was going to be playing my football for the reserves and warming the bench in respect of the first team. But then football is a funny old game.

"The best-laid plans can go out of the window and Oleg picked up a knee injury he never recovered from - I got my place back and really never looked back.

"In respect of Andy's situation, the fact that Davie Weir is now 37 means that the manager is going to take him out for certain games to keep him fresh and opportunity will present itself for Andy.

"The other factor here is that when you get into your mid-30s it is inevitable that mileage on the clock and injury do hit you at some time during a season that is likely to be as demanding as the one in front of Rangers.

"But I know that Andy is a level-headed young guy and he will be well aware of all that."

However, with Webster still only 25 and first pick centre-back Carlos Cuellar - the Spanish stopper whom Bomber scouted for Gers gaffer Walter Smith - only a year older, Brown believes the future of the Light Blue defence is promising.

The former Gers star said: "Over the decades the successful Rangers sides have always been rock solid at the centre of the backline.

"You can go back to the days of George Young then come through Colin Jackson and Tam Forsyth up to my own time with the likes of Terry Butcher and Richard Gough, but the bottom line is if you aren't conceding goals you become a hard side to beat.

"I think Rangers have now played nine games this season and have conceded only three goals with seven clean sheets. For me, as a defender, that is a statistic that is really noteworthy."

But as he assessed the attributes of Webster's game, Brown says he has little doubt that the frustrations endured by the former Arbroath player in his first year at Ibrox will soon be forgotten.

Bomber said: "After the problems that Rangers had in defence under Paul Le Guen, it was always going to be important that Walter got the right sort of player in to make his side an uncompromising prospect at the back.

"Andy clears his lines well, reads the play in his own area and is powerful in the air so defensively, allied to a decent turn of pace, he has the lot. As you saw against Gretna he also poses a significant aerial threat at the set-piece.

"I think with Andy and Cuellar both in their mid-20s Rangers are looking very solid in that area for a time to come."