BLACKBURN Rovers skipper Grant Hanley would be the perfect player to sort out Rangers’ defence in their first season back in the Scottish Premiership, according to Ewood Park legend Colin Hendry.

Former captain and coach ‘Braveheart’ is a big fan of the 24-year-old, who won the club’s player of the year award after an excellent season in a struggling side.

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And Hendry, who made 337 appearances for Rovers and 22 for Rangers, insists his fellow Scot would be the ideal choice to bolster the Light Blues’ backline as they attempt to challenge Celtic for the title next season, even if he would cost around £1.8million and command £20,000-a-week wages.

He said: “If they (Rangers) have a chunk of their budget set aside for a centre-half, then I would look at Grant Hanley.

“He is 24 and still learning his trade, but he has improved significantly in the past two years and now has more than 200 first-team games under his belt.

“It’s been rumoured Fulham are willing to pay £1.5million for him. I know for certain that two or three English Premier League clubs watched him closely and will continue to sniff around.

“But even if Rangers could come up with a package, would the boy want to go and play in Scottish football just now?

“If he asked for my advice, I’d tell him to join Rangers, for sure.

“However, maybe Mark Warburton and Davie Weir would prefer a centre-half in his late 20s or early 30s, a player who is still physically fit and also has a wealth of experience under his belt.

“We’ll wait and see. It will be interesting to see what happens. But it’s all about budgets.”

Hanley has two years left on his Rovers contract and any move is unlikely to happen before owner Venky’s name a new manager to succeed Paul Lambert.

The Scotland centre-back is set to play for his country against Euro 2016 hosts France in Metz on Saturday, six days after they lost 1-0 to Italy.

And Hanley says the tough tests for Gordon Strachan’s side — the only home country that failed to reach this summer’s tournament — will stand them in good stead for World Cup qualifying, which starts in September.

He said: “You’re playing against teams that are getting ready to compete at the Euros, so it’s brilliant for us to go and test ourselves against them.

“So when those qualifying games come around, we’ll be up for them.”

The Tartan Army are in a group with Malta, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and auld enemies England, who they face at Wembley on November 11.

The Rovers skipper added: “It’s another qualifying campaign, so we’re looking to get off to a good start.

“We’re going to work hard to try and get better by playing against high-quality opposition.”