GEDION ZELALEM hopes his Rangers loan spell will help him push for a place in the Arsenal first team next season.

The midfielder has been a key part of Mark Warburton’s squad this term as he has helped the Light Blues to the Championship title and Petrofac Training Cup.

Attentions are now firmly fixed on the Scottish Cup as the Gers look to end the campaign with a third medal to their credit by seeing off Hibernian at Hampden.

Zelalem will return to the Emirates after the showpiece finale to our campaign and the 19-year-old is pleased with how his loan stint has gone in Glasgow.

He said: “It’s been magnificent. They (Warburton and David Weir) have been helping me every day, and even when I’m not playing, they’ve been telling me why I’ve not been playing.

“The first half of the season was incredible, and then in the second half I got injured, so it has been tough for me to get in the team, but I am behind them all the way.

“I’ve learned a lot both on the pitch and off it. It’s the first time I’ve lived on my own, so it’s been a good experience that way, and on the pitch we have played really good, attractive football and Scottish football can learn from that.

“The dressing room is really united, and that’s part of the season why we have been so successful this season.

“The whole point of a loan deal is to get experience, and I’ll go back to Arsenal and strive to get involved there.

“The contact has been good, and they get a lot of feedback and scouts have been coming to watch the games.

“When I go back though, I will always keep in touch with Rangers and see how they are doing.”

One of the highlights of Zelalem’s Ibrox career has been his part in the Old Firm semi-final success last month.

The midfielder was a second half sub for the Gers before he kept his cool to convert from the spot during the shoot-out and celebrated by ‘shooshing’ the Hoops fans behind the goal.

“It was an unbelievable experience to be a part of, and both sets of fans were great,” Zelalem told rangers.co.uk.

“The game was very entertaining for the neutral but we played very well and deserved to win.

“My only thought was to put the penalty in the back of the net. The way I saw it, loads of top-class players have missed, and while it was a huge deal, loads of people had missed penalty kicks before.

“There was a lot of talk from Celtic and how confident they felt about winning, so that’s why I shooshed them after I had scored.”