Kelly had an impressive pre-season before the 2021/22 season, but did not get regular game-time with Rangers in the first half of the campaign, making just two appearances.
Starved of game-time, the midfielder went on loan to Salford City in January and made his permanent exit from Ibrox this summer to go to Livingston.
Kelly revealed though that he knew his time with Rangers was most probably up after he went on loan in January.
The Rangers academy product was not expecting to be part of manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s plan and after not getting opportunities in pre-season, he left the club permanently.
Speaking to the Rangers Review, Kelly said: “I knew going on loan to Salford, I probably wasn’t coming back to Rangers.
“I knew that was probably going to be a loan to get back playing and then looking ahead to the summer.
“I wasn’t really expecting to come back into the manager’s plans even though I felt I did well on loan.
““For me, the picture was pretty clear.
“A lot of the manager’s staff were impressed at how I looked after my loan at Salford and coming back into the first-team fold and felt I’d been impressive.
“Especially during the pre-season week in Portugal this summer, they’d seen an improvement.
“Again, it comes to the friendlies and I never really got the opportunity I’d got the season before.”
Kelly has yet to start a game for Livingston, making only one appearance, and it remains to be seen if his desire for more game-time at senior level is fulfilled this season.
