WHEN Walter Smith declared that Steven Whittaker was the most improved player at Rangers in the second half of last season it did more than just raise an eyebrow or two.

It also indicated that the Ibrox defender could find himself starting the season as Smith's first-choice right- back.

It is quite a turnaround for a player who, in some quarters, had been written off before he had really begun.

Quietly spoken and articulate, Whittaker gives the impression of a player who thrives on encouragement and cajoling.

The fact that Smith has spoken highly of him in a public forum will have done his confidence no harm at all, and all players perform better knowing there is a certain amount of faith in them to make the grade.

When Alan Hutton - another who improved immeasurably under Smith's tutelage - moved on somewhat reluctantly to Spurs in January 2008, there were fears that he would prove difficult to replace.

His marauding runs down the flank had made him a significant attacking weapon for Rangers and it says something for the Scotland inter-national that he was regarded as one of the key players at Ibrox when he was sold for a whopping £9million.

He left a big pair of boots to be filled and Whittaker, given that Kirk Broadfoot is not expected to be back until October as he recuperates from a foot injury, looks like he is being urged to fill them.

Certainly, the former Hibs player has improved of late, although there remains a question over his defensive qualities. He looks more comfortable attacking than he does defending but, in the SPL with Rangers, he will always have the chance to get forward and help pin teams back.

Whittaker arrived at Rangers with a price tag of £2m, and a former Easter Road team-mate believes that he can kick on and live up to his billing this term.

Dean Shiels, now playing his football in the Coca-Cola Championship with Doncaster Rovers, believes that Whittaker will improve again this season after getting a run of consecutive games under his belt last time out.

"I think there is pressure at whatever club you are at but, in Scotland, there is so much pressure on the Old Firm clubs," he said.

"For a lot of players I think that is something that could take a bit of getting used to, as does the fact that there are also a couple of players who can play in your position, so I imagine training and even everyday things will be very competitive.

"Steven was like a lot of young boys who were at Hibs when I was there. The raw talent was there and you could see that he had a good footballing brain.

"He always loved to get forward and it is good to see that he is still doing that at Rangers, because he was always capable of chipping in a couple of goals for us.

"But, like many of us in that team, I think he needed to learn the finer details of the game because talent only gets you so far.

"You also have to learn how to fit into a team and a system, and that is something that a lot of us started to pick up on when we were playing under Tony Mowbray at Easter Road.

"He helped us see the bigger picture and, for many of us, it has been the key to moving on and developing ourselves as players.

"I am sure that Steven, like Scott Brown at Celtic, has matured a lot in the past few seasons and I know that he will feel good about the way he ended the season.

"He'll be itching to get going again and I am sure that he will be chuffed at the thought of starting the season as a regular because it isn't an easy thing to do at either of the Old Firm clubs."

The Hibs team that Shiels and Whittaker were a part of surprised everyone when they finished third in the SPL under Mowbray.

Inevitably, the squad was plundered for the talent it had, and Shiels admitted that he always expected that a core of players would move on to bigger things.

"There was a lot of exciting talent in that team and when that happens you always expect that people are going to be moving on.

"For me, Guillame Buezelin was the real outstanding talent in that squad and I always felt that he would go on to perform at a far higher level.

"But the likes of Steven, Kevin Thomson and Scott Brown were talented players and it is nice to see them given a strong stage now to play on.

"I still speak to a lot of those lads that were at Hibs because it was a young team and there was a good spirit about us. We were all coming through at the same time and it was an exciting period for Hibs and for us as young players.

"But it is good to see that for many of those boys it wasn't just a flash in the pan that they stood out for a season or so. Most of them have moved on and have taken their game to another level and that says a lot for them."