SEVEN months after his career was cruelly cut short by injury it is clear that former Rangers, Hearts, and Scotland defender Alan McLaren still misses the cut and thrust of top class football.

Although his forced retirement robbed him of further honours, he still has a raft of memories from which to choose, including league championship wins with Rangers and a highly-rated marking job on Roberto Baggio against Italy in a World Cup qualifier among the highlights.

He may not be playing, but McLaren still has close links with Rangers and has been an ever-present at Ibrox this season, helping out with the club's corporate hospitality on match days.

Due to the fact that he was forced to quit the game at only 27, McLaren, who is now studying for a business degree at college in Edinburgh, is to be honoured with a testimonial against Middlesbrough at Ibrox on Tuesday, March 2. An indication of his standing in football is that players like Kenny Dalglish, John Barnes, Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler, Stuart Pearce, and Chris Waddle will all take part.

However the real crowd puller may well be the return to Ibrox of old team-mates Brian Laudrup and Paul Gascoigne.

While Laudrup will definitely turn out for Rangers, Gascoigne will play the first half for Rangers, then the other for Middlesbrough.

McLaren was forced to retire after a serious knee injury that left him with no cartilage since it disintegrated through wear and tear, leaving the joints to rub against each other, bone on bone.

His decision to retire came after a series of operations on the injured knee, which, despite consultations with some of the best doctors in the world, failed to rectify the problem.

McLaren will always be a major part of Rangers' history as he was the man, in the absence of an injured Richard Gough, who captained the club on the night they clinched the nine-in-a-row championship against Dundee United.

However, as the final preparations are being put to the testi- monial, McLaren's thoughts are still with Rangers and the attacking style he believes his former club has adopted this season.

Despite his high praise for the current Ibrox squad, McLaren is clearly a man who does not want to dwell on the past.

Speaking at his Edinburgh home yesterday, he made it clear that, although he would have loved to be playing for Rangers this season, it was pointless guessing how he would have fitted in to Dick Advocaat's current side if he was still fit.

McLaren said: '''That's just hypothetical. Anyway, they aren't doing too badly just now without me, are they?''

However, it is clear that, at the beginning of the season at least, a man with the composure of McLaren would have slotted in well to a defence where Lorenzo Amaruso was having a harum-scarum time.

Despite his astuteness as a defender, and the way he believes the Rangers defence has come on to a game of late, McLaren believes that it is the strikers that Advocaat has signed that have propelled the team to the top of the league.

''Dick's tactics have been spot-on and I believe, in Rod Wallace and Jonatan Johansson, they have two great strikers,'' said McLaren. ''I believe Wallace is the signing of the season, not just for Rangers but for any team in Scotland.''

McLaren's ultimate compliment for Wallace was that ''he would be very difficult to mark,'' and he believes the man who came on a free transfer from Leeds United will go from strength to strength.

''I believe he and Johansson could be the way ahead for Rangers,'' said McLaren. ''There has been much made of Amato and Guivarc'h and, although I think both of them have a lot to offer, they have been overshadowed by the form of Rod and Jonatan.''

McLaren believes that, despite the undoubted class of Advocaat's side, the standard of other teams in the Premier League has made things a bit easier for them.

''Last season Rangers had Hearts and Celtic to contend with, who both put together good runs of form,'' said McLaren.

''This time round, Hearts have faded badly and it's only Kilmar- nock and Celtic who are in the frame. No disrespect to them, but I think Kilmarnock's bubble has now burst and, although Celtic will probably pick up a few results, I think they have left it too late.''

As Rangers look odds-on for the title, McLaren said he is saddened by the fact that his other former team, Hearts, the club he captained as a 17-year-old, were struggling so badly.

McLaren had seven good years at Tynecastle before joining Rangers for #1.25m in a deal that saw Dave McPherson move to Hearts. No-one at the time would have foreseen that McPherson, at 34, would still be playing first-team football, with McLaren having to retire through injury.

''It's sad to see Hearts struggle so much and to be honest it surprises me,'' McLaren said. ''After the Scottish Cup win, I thought they would build on that and really be challenging for the league.

''However, they have been inconsistent and had bad luck with injuries, but even so I never expected them to be struggling so much. I would like to think we would end up with an Edinburgh derby next season, but Hearts will have to start winning to make sure they stay in the Premier League.''

Last night, Sandy Jardine, who signed McLaren as a schoolboy for his first club, Hearts, talked of how great a player the defender had been.

''I realised Alan's potential when he was just a teenager and although his career was cut short he showed over ten years how good a player he was,'' said Jardine. ''He was one of the greatest defenders I worked with and it was a tragedy for both Rangers and the player that his career was cut short when he had several good years ahead of him.''