THE canteen at Murray Park is a most pleasant place to spend an hour on a sunny afternoon. Light and airy, there is a pool table, a buffet service and some extremely comfortable armchairs beside the large windows looking out onto the greenery below.

There is a sign which states that you cannot sit on them if you are still covered in oil from your lunchtime massage.

This is hardly life in the coalmines, something Barrie McKay has come to realise during a couple of periods in which the luxuries of the Rangers Training Centre were denied him in favour of a rather less refined environment.

Despite having been involved in the Ibrox club's march to the old Third Division in 2013 following liquidation and all that, he would have little to do with their next couple of campaigns.

He spent eight months out on loan last term at Raith Rovers. The season before that, he was despatched to Morton to get some football under his belt.

Spending time in Kirkcaldy and Greenock would be an eye-opener for most, but it certainly caused the 20-year-old to wake up to what was on offer to him at Rangers and focus the mind on making the most of the opportunity that has been provided by his new manager, Mark Warburton.

"I don't know if I've become a different person, but going away has helped me," said McKay, who has established himself as a regular starter in the Englishman's first XI.

"When you go away and come back, you see how good we have really got it here.

"Other teams don't have these facilities and it makes you want to do better when you come back.

"I think I have matured a lot. I've grown up more.

"Going to another team that's not regarded as big, you see a different side of things with the fans as well. They don't expect to win every week, so there's greater pressure at Rangers, but I like that. I put pressure on myself to succeed."

McKay will also have time to catch up with old friends this afternoon when Rovers come calling at Ibrox on league duty.

"I loved it at Raith and I got the game time that I needed," he said.

"I travelled with Grant Anderson and Mark Stewart and I'm still really close with them. Sometimes, we go out and get a bit of food and catch up. I still speak to them near enough every day."

As McKay's personal fortunes have improved, so, too, have those of Rangers. He returned to Ibrox with Raith last season for a Scottish Cup fifth round tie. Ineligible under the terms of his loan agreement, he watched Rovers earn a deserved 2-1 victory in front of a pitiful crowd of 11,422.

Rangers were at rock-bottom back then. It pleases him to be part of a more buoyant squad with Warburton aiming to set a new club record for a manager this afternoon with nine wins from his first nine games.

"I supported both teams in that match earlier in the year," recalled McKay of that fixture in February. "It was half-empty when Raith came to Ibrox in the cup, but I'm sure the fans will be there in numbers this weekend.

"This year, it is a lot different to what it has been recently."

McKay already has a particular place in Rangers' history. He scored their first goal in Third Division football in a 2-2 draw with Peterhead in August 2012 and wants to become one of the few players to still be on the books when they finally make their return to the Premiership.

"To be able to say I started off in that squad and got Rangers back to the top would be a real achievement," he said.

*Tickets for the Rangers v Raith Rovers game are on sale until kick-off from the Rangers Ticket Centre. Prices from £18 for adults, £13 concessions and £5 for juniors.