Rangers icon urges £9m hitman to use Celtic strike as springboard to Ibrox success — but demands 20-25 goals

Kris Boyd believes Kevin Kelsy can start to play with greater freedom after opening his Rangers account in last weekend’s Premier Sports Cup Old Firm derby — but he has challenged the £9 million striker to prove he can deliver consistently.

The Venezuelan striker marked his first appearance against Celtic by scoring in Rangers’ emphatic 3-0 League Cup quarter-final victory at Ibrox last week.

It was the perfect way for the 22-year-old to announce himself after completing a deadline-day move from MLS side Portland Timbers, where Boyd previously played.

And former Rangers striker Boyd believes Kelsy will feel a huge sense of relief after getting his first goal for the club. But he wants the forward to use that confidence to start finding the net regularly against the rest of the Premiership — with 20 goals the minimum target he should be aiming for.

“Scoring that goal will take the heat off Kelsy, 100 percent,” Boyd said. “If you’re leading the line for any club, you want to get your name on the scoresheet. This isn’t disrespect to other clubs I played for. But with Rangers or Celtic, there is an added pressure.

“He missed a big chance against Motherwell when he put it over the bar. And as a striker, when you join a new club you want to get off the mark as quickly as you possibly can. The big thing for Kelsy is that it’s been against their arch rivals.

“So he’s up and running now and will hope to continue that. I’ve always said that you want to score against Celtic because that’s what gives you legendary status among the supporters. But right now, it’s probably more important for Rangers to kill off games against other teams.

“That’s where you look at strikers like Kelsy and ask: ‘Right, can you guarantee 20 to 25 goals a season’? Then you look for others to chip in like Dan Neil did at the weekend. Celtic have had that advantage over Rangers for a number of years.

“From Kelsy’s point of view, getting off the mark will have done him the world of good. He should feel confident going into the next game after scoring against your big rivals.”

Boyd warns Rangers of very different Celtic test

The ease of Rangers’ cup triumph came as a surprise to Boyd, who admits few would have predicted such a convincing result at Ibrox. However, he expects the return fixture at Celtic Park this weekend to be a completely different proposition.

With the Premiership title race at stake, Boyd believes his old club cannot afford to leave Parkhead empty-handed. A defeat would put them eight points behind Celtic and leave Derek McInnes’ side facing a significant early-season deficit.

Speaking after conducting the draw for Saturday’s Ladbrokes Ayr Gold Cup, Boyd admitted: “Losing at Celtic Park and going eight points behind in the league — that would be very difficult to claw back. But would Derek have been satisfied if someone said to him last week he’d get his team to Hampden and then either stay five points behind — or better it?

“I think he’d have been absolutely delighted with that. You’d like to think Rangers will now go into it a lot more confident after the performance at Ibrox.

“People might have expected Rangers to win or for it to be tight. But no-one expected it to be as comfortable as it was for them. They’ve now got the cup tie out of the way and the first Old Firm league game is always important.

“From Rangers’ point of view, can they now go there and avoid defeat? It would be huge for them to get a positive result. And all of a sudden, they’d have two home games against Celtic to turn it around. But if they go eight behind it would be a huge ask to pull it back so early in the season.”

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