Mark Warburton happy with his smaller Rangers squad
Thursday 3 September 2015 19:15, UK
Mark Warburton says he is happy with his Rangers squad after resisting the temptation to add to it in the final days of the transfer window.
The Ibrox manager has brought in 11 new faces and a total of 19 players have left the club since last season because of expiring deals, the end of loans and the termination of contracts.
Although he is operating with a smaller squad than his predecessors were used to, Warburton is adamant that's how he likes it.
He maintains he would rather have intense competition for places than a scenario where some players find themselves in a situation where they expect to be left out.
Rangers will bid to extend the gap between them and Hibernian in the Scottish Championship to nine points this weekend when they host Raith on Saturday.
The Edinburgh side took the opportunity to request the postponement of their game at Falkirk because of international call-ups, meaning Warburton's men could move nine points clear of them.
He will take his side into the game off the back of eight consecutive wins in all competitions, in which 30 goals have been scored.
Warburton knows he is taking a risk with having a smaller pool but is willing to take the gamble for the sake of ensuring his players keep their edge.
He said: "The worst thing you can do, I think, is take numbers for numbers' sake and add bodies just for the sake of it. I hear people say 'just in case' - that's an awful scenario for me.
"To have four, five, six players watching the coach disappear down the drive on a Friday afternoon and not being involved - all that creates is disappointment, upset and resentment.
"For us, we've got a tight, lean squad - yes, we're vulnerable to maybe a bad spate of injuries but we work hard at what we do with the medical team and we're in good shape.
"If we needed more players, we'd have got more players in. There's no lack of available support for us, David and I, in terms of what we needed.
"You have to assess the squad. I think the worst thing you can do in any job, any business, is to go in there and immediately make changes for changes' sake. There's some good people here."
