Noel Whelan believes that Rangers are right to be looking at Championship players as they try to sign Josh Tymon from Stoke City.

The Europa League runners-up could be looking to strengthen the left side of their defence ahead of next season with doubts over Borna Barisic's future, whilst they could face a battle to keep hold of the talented Calvin Bassey.

Therefore, potential replacements have been lined up, with reports stating that Tymon is under consideration.

And, speaking to Football Insider, Whelan explained why scouting the second tier is the right approach for the Glasgow side.

"When you go to the Championship – you’re looking at players who are ready-made. They’ve played a lot of minutes already, and they’ve shown they can deal with the pressures of playing a lot of games.

"You’ve got to be a lot more robust in Scotland. There aren’t many teams who can play like Rangers and Celtic. All that being said, Rangers will also be looking for players who have the quality to shine through."

Tymon featured in 44 games for the Potters last season.

The verdict

You can understand why Rangers are keen on Tymon because he is a very good player and they could be in the market for a left-back this summer.

As Whelan says, the Championship is a great league for the Ibrox side to be scouting because it's a high quality division and it's very competitive, so players will be able to make the transition easily.

Whether they can bring in Tymon remains to be seen, but Michael O'Neill will want to keep him considering he was a regular last season.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.