NEIL ALEXANDER added further silverware to his growing collection since moving north of the border with a League Cup winner's medal in 2009/10.

Having ended the two previous seasons as Walter Smith's first choice ahead of Allan McGregor there was much speculation heading into that campaign as to who would start the season in goal.

Smith ultimately opted for McGregor with Alexander making just four starts in the SPL.

He was though an ever present in the League Cup run that ended in dramatic fashion as nine man Rangers saw off St Mirren in the Hampden final.

That earned Alexander a fifth medal in just two and a half seasons under Smith, who signed the goalkeeper as an experienced back up from Ipswich Town.

He got his top team chance late in that first season when McGregor was injured against Celtic.

It was a meteoric rise for the former Ipswich man as he found himself going from the Championship to a UEFA Cup final in just 5 months.

McGregor returned between the posts for the start of the following season, but after his disciplinary breach on Scotland duty Alexander regained his place for the 2008/09 title run in.

And he played his part in fulfilling a long held desire to call himself a league champion, before keeping a clean sheet as Gers clinched the double with a Scottish Cup triumph over Falkirk.

It was perhaps more than Alexander could have hoped for when he fulfilled a top-flight dream when joining Rangers.

The shot stopper had spent his whole career in Scotland and England's lower leagues before moving to Ibrox.

He started his senior career in humble surroundings at Stenhousemuir in 1996 and spent two years at Ochilview.

He moved on from there to Livingston, where he won Second and First Division titles in three seasons with the Lions.

His form at Almondvale led to him joining Cardiff City in 2001 and it was there he had his longest spell with a club.

Over six years, Alexander was the Bluebirds' regular keeper, making 234 appearances and helping the Welsh outfit into the Championship.

Ipswich were quick to move for him in the summer of 2007 and the 29-year-old made his presence felt immediately.

He played in each of the Tractor Boys' first 31 games in the 2007/08 season and helped them to a formidable run of results at Portman Road.

With 11 wins and four draws, theirs was the best home record in the league and Alexander conceded just eight goals in that sequence.

He is a player who had worked with Smith previously, back when the Gers manager was in charge of Scotland.

Indeed, it was he who gave Alexander his first international caps against Switzerland, Bulgaria and Japan.