Diouf played a few minutes of Rangers' Co-operative Insurance Cup final win

El Hadji Diouf has until the end of the season to persuade Rangers to take up the last year of his contract or return to an uncertain future with Blackburn.

Steve Kean revealed that, when he took over as Rovers manager, he told Diouf he wanted to give 20-year-old Junior Hoilett a run in the first-team.

"Hence the reason why he went on loan to Rangers," Kean told BBC Scotland.

"But he has one year left of his deal, so I don't know if Rangers will want to take up the last year of his contract."

Diouf, whose on-field behaviour often led to controversy during his spells with Liverpool, Bolton, Sunderland and Ewood Park, has had a stormy first few months at Ibrox.

The 30-year-old Senegal international scored a goal that helped Rangers knock Sporting out of the Europa League.

The thing that was going to be difficult for El Hadji was we've got a young lad here, Junior Hoilett, who is a talent Blackburn Rovers manager Steve Kean

But he was then embroiled in a tetchy exchange with Celtic captain Scott Brown in a Scottish Cup draw between the Glasgow neighbours before being one of three Rangers players shown red cards during a now infamous defeat in the replay.

Diouf has since been relegated to the Rangers bench, only appearing for the final minutes of Sunday's Co-operative Insurance Cup final win over their Old Firm rivals.

But Scottish manager Kean said: "He was always a good lad and always worked hard.

"The thing that was going to be difficult for El Hadji was we've got a young lad here, Junior Hoilett, who is a talent and I wanted to play Junior.

"And I said to El Hadji, you are not going to play as much as you normally do, and he is at a stage of his career where he wanted to play.

"I don't know if he will want to come back."

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