Kyle Lafferty is planning his Norwich City exit and would love a return to Rangers

The 29-year-old has been well out of the first team picture this season at Carrow Road and although City have a one-year option on his contract he doesn't expect them to take it up.

He said: 'I'm finishing at Norwich in two weeks. They have a year option on me but the way the last two-and-a-half years have gone they won't take it up.

'I was excited to join Norwich but things didn't go the way I had hoped. I won't be rushing into anything, I'll take my time and pick the right club for me. First and foremost I want to play football.'

Lafferty left Rangers in 2012 with the Scottish giants in financial turmoil as he exercised his right to refuse the 'new' Rangers to transfer his registration.

Other players, including City's Steven Whittaker, did the same and leading CEO at the time Charles Green labelled them as opportunists and mercenaries. Rangers fans weren't happy either and Lafferty admits he regrets the way his time at Ibox ended.

'The way I left was disappointing and I have thought about it over and over again and the situation a lot of players found themselves in,' he told the Daily Record.

'It was a difficult time and if I had the opportunity again I would stay and fight for the club and try to help them as much as possible.

'The longer you stay at a club like Rangers the better you adapt and although it didn't end the way I would have liked, I still have a lot of great memories and I would like to go back and play for Rangers again one day.'

When Lafferty left Rangers he joined Sion on a free transfer before moving to Palermo. It was from here that Norwich brought him back to British football but his form for the Canaries has not matched his international form with Northern Ireland when he fired his country to Euro 2016 with seven goals in qualifying.

It is this kind of form that will convince another club to take a punt on the former Burnley striker.

Whether that's at Rangers remains to be seen but he believes they are in safe hands with new boss Pedro Caixinha.

'It was a good appointment for Rangers. Hopefully he will be given an opportunity to build something and sign his own players because this is the club's first season back in the top flight and it will take a little time to get the club back to where the fans want it to be.'

After Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final, when Rangers lost 2-0 to Celtic, few give Caixinha's men any chance in Saturday's league meeting. But Lafferty is refusing to write off his former club. He said: 'In the last Old Firm league game Rangers were good value for the draw and might even have nicked it at the end.

'This one's at Ibrox, the Rangers fans will be up for it and I'm sure the players will be too. Hopefully they'll get a result. Anything can happen. It's the Old Firm.'