Kevin Muscat has already told Rangers his unflinching demand as earliest date he’d take the job emerges

The Australian has surged up the Ibrox shortlist of candidates to replace Russell Martin

Shanghai Port boss Kevin Muscat has insisted he requires "belief" in his football philosophy to take over a job amid revived interest from Rangers.

With Steven Gerrard out of the running, pressure is building on the US owners to name a new boss with the Scottish Premiership emerging from cold storage this weekend.

Former Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl has become the frontrunner to replace Russell Martin having impressed Andrew Cavenagh and Paarag Marathe of 49ers Enterprises during talks in London.

But Record Sport understands that the board are split on the German boss with Muscat back in the frame for the Ibrox hot seat.

Former Light Blues' midfielder Muscat was interviewed for the Rangers job after Michael Beale was axed following two successful seasons with Yokohama F. Marinos - but the decision-makers at Ibrox opted to go with Philippe Clement.

Since then, Muscat has gone on to claim the Chinese Super League title last term - and has his side sitting top of the table with four games to go.

And the boss has made it clear that he needs people behind the scenes who buy into his all-out attacking style of play - just like in Shanghai.

Speaking to Bruce earlier this year, Muscat said: "Winning trophies is one thing, but the football allowed us to do that.

"The great thing about being here is, yes, success is demanded not only from the club, but from the fans. That expectation has grown, especially considering last season.

"But working with the people in this club who have a genuine belief and a genuine enjoyment for the way we play - that's the environment I like to be in, if I'm honest as well.

"There's a genuine willingness and effort, and desire to win things and that expectation is on us once again this year."

And he has dropped a hint on what his football philosophy would look like should he take it to the blue half of Glasgow.

Discussing the changes he put in place at Port, the gaffer said: "If you arrive somewhere and you've got a belief and a real strong desire to do something, it grows on people and that's what happened here.

"They could sense the belief in what we were trying to do and what we wanted to do, and that became infectious.

"You have to learn it wherever you go, but you understand that it's you (who) has to make sacrifices culturally, because you are coming into an environment - and of course you have your certain beliefs and your non-negotiables because to play the way we play you have to train a certain way.

"But then understanding where everyone sits culturally we have had to adapt.

"Certainly, when we got here we had to adapt the way we train because it was so different to what the group was used to."

The timing of the arrival looks to be the biggest stumbling block for the arrival of Muscat.

There are four matches to play in the Chinese Super League season, with Muscat’s Port currently sitting ahead of Chengdu Rongcheng and Shanghai Shenhua by two and three points respectively.

Muscat is four league fixtures away from glory with Qingdao Hainiu, Shandong Taishan, Zhejiang, and Dalian Zhixing remaining - with four wins from four securing back to back titles.

Should the race go all the way, Port would look to claim the title on the final day of the season on November 22.

The earliest the title could be wrapped up is October 26 if their title rivals collapse - which would be the soonest date that Muscat is likely to leave the club, or walk away from his current club in the midst of the final stages of defending their crown.

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