Johnston hopes Jelavic stays

Former Rangers forward Willie Johnston has likened Nikica Jelavic to his own former strike partner Colin Stein and still hopes the Ibrox club can hang on to the Croatian.

Rangers have declined a £7million offer from West Ham for Jelavic, but Johnston fears he will move on before the end of the month.

He said: "I think Jelavic is a very good player and I hope he stays, but the way things are, I think the boy might move on."

Johnston, with a double, and Stein were the Rangers goalscorers when they defeated Dynamo Moscow 3-2 to lift the European Cup Winners' Cup in Barcelona back in 1972.

Members of that side were reunited at Ibrox to promote a 'Barcelona Bears' 40th anniversary dinner in Glasgow on May 18 where Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will be the guest speaker.

Johnston's memories of that famous victory at the Nou Camp remain vivid, but being reunited with Stein reminded him of what Rangers could lose if they sell Jelavic.

He said: "The advice I'd give him would be stay on in Scotland for another year or two and if he wants then to go to England he'll be a better player for waiting.

"Rangers have got to keep everybody if they're going to win the title, but he is the main asset for them, the main man, because he's the goalscorer.

"All strikers are different, but in terms of comparing him, for me, he's a bit like Colin Stein in terms of getting into the box and making headers. The type of goals he scores are pretty similar I would say to those 'Steiny' got for us in my era.

"As long as you put the ball in the box for him, then that's his job and if you're setting him up you've done yours. It helps everybody's confidence when you know there are goals in the team."