Heart of Midlothian striker Lawrence Shankland would have helped Rangers win the Scottish Premiership. 

That's according to Livingston manager David Martindale, who watched the "unbelievable" Jam Tarts talisman score in a 4-2 win over his side on Saturday. 

Shankland, 28, produced a man of the match performance to help Hearts come from two goals down to record an emphatic victory at Tynecastle. 

The Scotland international was strongly linked with treble-chasing Rangers during the winter transfer window but no move materialised.

And under 24-hours on from the result in Gorgie, Rangers faltered to a shock defeat against relegation-threatened Ross County to add a twist to the title race, with Celtic finishing the weekend four points ahead, albeit having played a game more.

Big money summer recruit, Cyriel Dessers, struggled throughout the clash in Dingwall, potentially proving the Light Blues may still have a Shankland shaped hole. 

READ MORE: Celtic hero Chris Sutton in Rangers 'moral victory' jibe after defeat

At the beginning of the year, former Rangers striker, Billy Dodds, asserted that if either Brendan Rodgers or Philippe Clement had opted to recruit the forward, his exceptional goal-scoring abilities could have propelled them to silverware.

However, they chose not to heed his advice, and Martindale believes that the Glasgow pair overlooked a valuable opportunity by not investing in him.

The Lions boss was asked about Dodds' comments and whether he was surprised the Hearts captain, who took his goal tally to 29 for the season, wasn't snapped up by one of the Old Firm in January. 

He replied: "I wouldn’t disagree with Billy but world football is changing. You now have club owners who are based all over the world who employ directors of football who could also be based anywhere in the world.

READ MORE: Tavernier slams Rangers for not responding to Clement's HT demands

“They then employ managers from various different countries, who all have their own ideas. Now if Billy was sporting director at Ibrox he’d probably sign Shankland but it’s different mindsets from different coaches.

“It doesn’t mean that Shankland couldn’t play for Rangers. Personally, I think he would be unbelievable for them but then we have an in-depth knowledge of Scottish football while some of the sporting directors have in-depth knowledge of other countries.

“Look at Ange Postecoglou and the number of players he brought here from the J League because he’d worked in that market. Hearts have recently done well by bringing in boys from Australia because they know what works and what doesn’t over there.

“So I’m with Billy - I think Shankland would get 30 goals a season for Celtic or Rangers but it’s probably down to the style of football they want to play. First and foremost, the manager has got to want him and they may be looking at different things. Football is changing.”