Former Rangers midfielder backs Todd Cantwell to reignite injury-plagued career at Ibrox

Graham Dorrans believes Rangers transfer target Todd Cantwell can still reach the heights of his former Norwich City team mate James Maddison after coming through the club’s youth ranks together.

The ex-England under-21 international, who is out of contract at Carrow Road this summer, earned praise from Ibrox boss Michael Beale at the weekend as he addressed speculation linking him with a January move for the midfielder.

Cantwell hasn’t featured competitively for the Canaries since early November and has been left out of several matchday squads in recent weeks as rumours continue to circulate over his future.

The 24-year-old has been plagued by injury problems throughout his career to date, which could be a concern to Beale given Rangers’ issues with a number of their summer additions including John Souttar and Ridvan Yilmaz.

However, Dorrans is adamant Ibrox would be the ideal place for Cantwell to reignite his faltering career after the player uploaded an image of himself out for a seaside run on his Instagram account to prove that he is fully fit.

Unlike Cantwell, former Aberdeen loanee Maddison has taken his career to a new level since his two-year spell at Norwich, earning senior international recognition including a place in Gareth Southgate’s 26-man England World Cup squad last year after starring for Premier League side Leicester City.

Dorrans said: “Todd came through at Norwich with James Maddison. They both had that wee bit of arrogance about them coming through. James has backed that up with the career he’s had.

“The two of them always had great ability, The last couple of seasons haven’t gone the way Todd would have hoped, but I’ve no doubt about his talent. He’s only 24, so he can still get to that level. He’s got all the ability.

“I just think he needs a bit of confidence because any player will tell you that’s massive. With a bit of love he’s certainly got the ability to come up here and do well.”

Meanwhile, Rangers youngsters Leon King and Alex Lowry featured for the club’s B team last night, with the latter netting a hat-trick in their 3-0 victory over Civil Service Strollers in the Lowland League.

Both players have returned to first-team training in recent weeks from illness and injury and have been building up their fitness with David McCallum’s side, who sit third in the table and have played a game more than second-placed Celtic.