Leon King makes Rangers trophy claim as defender ready to face Celtic in Scottish Cup Final

Leon King has told Philippe Clement he'll be ready for the Scottish Cup Final if called upon.

The Rangers defender, 20, made his first start of the season in Tuesday's 5-2 win over Dundee after 12 months out in the cold. With Connor Goldson and Leon Balogun crocked, the youngster could be thrown in against Celtic at Hampden next week. John Souttar is expected to recover in time for the powderkeg showdown but King hopes to play his way into the team with another start at Tynecastle.

He said: "It was huge to bounce back. No one at this club likes to get beaten, it's not what we are about. We're about winning games and winning trophies. Ultimately, we need to play better. We have a massive end to the season coming up with the Scottish Cup final so it's just about building momentum and confidence going into that.

"It was nice to be back in the fold again. It's a year next week since my last start in the league so it's obviously nice to get back out there. We started the game well but gave them two very cheap goals. I think I can do a lot better for the first, which was a mix-up between me and Ridvan at the back post. But we bounced back very well in the second half and it was comfortable in the end."

On facing Celtic, he added: "I'm ready, 100 per cent. Those are the games you want to play in for this club and ultimately to win trophies. If the manager calls upon me I'll be ready. And ultimately we'd like to win more trophies. At the end of the season if we walk away with two, we'll probably say we could have three. But we still have a job to do and we still need to win that Cup final."