McGregor welcomes the extra competition from McLaughlin at Rangers
and big Zander [Clark] at St Johnstone was getting tipped, so I don’t see any reason why he can’t.” Meanwhile, McCrorie has been urged to look no further than predecessor Kelly in his bid to make it big thanks to Livingston. McCrorie will fight it out with former Sunderland goalie Max Stryjek for the number one spot after the Poland under-21 cap penned a three-year deal earlier this month.
And both have been told they have the perfect example of what can happen for them at
Almondvale after Kelly made his loan from Rangers a permanent switch before impressing enough to earn a Scotland call-up and move to QPR last summer.
Livi goalkeeping coach Tony Caig, the former Hibs, Gretna and Carlisle player, said: “Robby had come in and had just got started and playing well for us when the coronavirus came along and put a halt to that.
“But we always felt that if we could have a chance of getting him back it would be something we’d look into, and things developed quite well.
“He signed his new deal at Rangers and they felt it was a good place for him to come and play, and he wanted to come back here, so we were glad to make that happen.
“Robby realises this is the next step in his progression. He’s come right through the academy at Rangers and had different loan spells at different levels.
“He realises he needs to get a number of games at this level before he could go back to Rangers and really compete to be in their first two goalkeepers.
“So, it’s a natural step for him, it’s the next step for him, but he understands he needs to play well to make the things go right for him after this.”
Kelly joined Livi in League One four years ago before returning to them on a permanent basis in 2018 and then 12 months later making the switch to QPR for an undisclosed fee.
Caig added: “We’ve got a blueprint, in that sense. Liam came to us and did excellently for us, and he kicked on and got a move down to the English Championship.”