Mark Warburton plans Rangers’ January signings

MARK Warburton may appear to be presumptuous but he will sign players in January who are already equipped to play for Rangers in the Premiership next season.

Victory today over St Mirren in Paisley and avoiding defeat at Easter Road next Sunday would mean the Ibrox side will hold a commanding lead in the Championship and are unlikely to be caught.

So it is understandable that the Englishman wants to conduct his business in an efficient fashion and the wheels are already in motion following the appointment of good friend Frank McParland as head of recruitment last week.

Warburton already feels that the core of his team can compete at the top level but he knows he needs to improve the quality in some areas.

He said: “We have to start building our squad for next season in January because you need to bed players in.

“If you try to get all of your recruits in June that’s a big ask. We had to do that this year because of the situation.

“Ideally we will get one or two in January and then you look to supplement in May, June and July.

“Frank’s qualities will be shown as the weeks go by. His network of contacts, game knowledge and eye for a player is outstanding.

“We can’t afford to get these appointments wrong so we’re delighted to get Frank on board.

“We’ve been given lots of names already and enquiries are being made. Boys will come in and lists are being formed.”

Warburton has also confirmed that he fully intends to continue exploiting the loan market, having done it successfully in England prior to joining Rangers, where he is giving regular game time to Arsenal’s Gedion Zelalem and Tottenham pair Nathan Oduwa and Dom Ball.

He said: “All we can do is keep creating an environment here that’s conducive to their learning. If we get a reputation for helping young players that can only help Rangers.

“You’ve got to look at the market. The fact is the financial climate is very different down south so the size of the squads they can carry and the players they can attract and wages they can pay are different.

“Just look at the amount of money available in the Premier League and it tells you all you need to know.

“So, if we can access that market and get the one, two, three players we think can make a difference and add value beyond what we already have then we’ve got to use it. We have to.”

The Rangers manager also confirmed that he will postpone the league meeting with Dumbarton on 14 November if he has the requisite three players on international duty.

Fraser Aird and Ryan Hardie are liable to be called up by Canada and the Scotland under-19s respectively so one more would be needed.

He said: “All we can do is communicate with the international bodies and hope we get the information as early as possible.

“There could be training camps. We’ll know more hopefully in the next couple of days.”