Sunday 7 February 2016 18:44, UK
Mark Walters believes the standard of Scottish Premiership will improve if his former side Rangers return to the top flight.
Rangers, who were forced to drop down to Scottish football's lowest tier in 2012 due to financial difficulties, hold an eight-point lead over second-placed Hibernian with 13 games remaining in the Scottish Championship.
"Without a doubt it will be great for Scottish football when Rangers get back up to the Premiership," Walters told Sky Sports.
"They look solid and they look organised. Unfortunately, my former colleague Ally McCoist was unable to get them back in the Premiership but I think Mark Warburton has made them strong enough to get out of the league automatically.
"I'm sure most Celtic fans would say the worst thing that has happened to the Premiership over the last four years is Rangers being out of the game. And that's not only from a financial point of view but also from an atmospheric point of view in the matches.
"I don't think it's been good for Celtic and the standard of the football in the league has also dropped, which was a big criticism before anyway. I think the standard will increase when Rangers go up and hopefully they will be able to recruit some good players of a similar standard to Celtic's, and that will help the league get the recognition it deserves."
Walters, who spent three-and-a-half seasons at Ibrox during the late eighties and early nineties, was speaking at the British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards, hosted by Sporting Equals at London's Grosvenor House hotel.
"I love these awards particularly because they are a great vehicle for coaches from the BME (Black Minority Ethnic) community to move forward," Walters said.
"When people from those communities come to awards like these it helps them realise there is a way forward for them, not only to get qualified, but also to maybe get a job in football which is fantastic."
