Steven Naismith believes every single Rangers defender - including Madjid Bougherra - will have to prove they are worthy of their place in the team now following the emergence of Danny Wilson.

Bougherra has been out of action for several weeks, firstly returning late from international duty before suffering an injury in training which has kept him out of games in both the Champions League and the SPL.

Lee McCulloch and Sasa Papac have both deputised at centre-half when called upon this season but limited options prompted boss Walter Smith to throw Wilson into the first team against Dundee in the Co-operative Insurance Cup.

The 17-year-old did well enough to retain his place against Dundee United and proved to be a revelation when he made his Champions League debut in the 1-1 draw with Unirea Urziceni midweek.

"I think every defender at the club will have to watch out," said Naismith.

"But it's only good for the team.

"We have had well-documented problems about not signing players and guys like Danny are the ones who need to come in and show they can step up to the plate.

"As everyone here has known for months, Danny is a boy who is going to come through and have a long and successful career.

"He is also a boy with a good head, he doesn't believe his own press. He just comes in and does his work and is pretty shy.

"He is doing the right thing by listening to everything Davie Weir tells him. You always see the two of them together and I'm sure he will learn a lot from Davie."

With erratic form blighting Rangers in all competitions so far this season, Naismith hailed Wilson as the club's most consistent performer in his three senior outings so far.

The forward said: "When I was coming back from injury, he played a lot of the reserve games that I played in and you could see then that he was organising all the boys around him.

"Through pre-season and in training with the first team, he showed he could handle it. In the games he has played in so far he has probably been our most consistent player.

"The biggest thing that a young boy needs to do is just believe he can do it and not let the crowd or the team you are playing against get to you.

"If you believe you can play at this level, the majority of the young boys who come in do well. That's the biggest thing for me."

Rangers will be looking to return to winning ways when they play host to St Mirren at Ibrox on Saturday.

But Naismith admitted: "It will be a tough game, every game these days is tough.

"I can't remember the last time we got a few early goals and played some good stuff.

"We know we have a fight every week and tomorrow is going to be no different."