Mark Warburton: Rangers do not need to spend big to compete

Mark Warburton insists Rangers do not need to splash out millions of pounds to compete with rivals Celtic.

While Brendan Rodgers last week paid an initial fee of £3million to lure Scott Sinclair to Parkhead, Gers have so far kept their spending to a minimum.

Of the nine players who have checked into Ibrox this summer, Warburton has only had to pay small compensation sums to land Josh Windass, Matt Crooks, Jordan Rossiter and Joe Dodoo while others such as Joey Barton and Niko Kranjcar have arrived for free.

But Warburton - who hinted he could complete his hunt for a new defender and striker within days - reckons his transfer activity does not mean Rangers are planning a Ladbrokes Premiership title challenge on the cheap.

Asked if the club was prepared to match Celtic in the spending stakes, he said: "We'll never talk about specific budgetary amounts but from our point of view we have got to add value.

"With where the club has been the last four or five years I think it's imperative we get value. What that value is is the big question.

"But I look at Joe Dodoo, Jordan Rossiter, Joey Barton - who would have been in the Premier League with Burnley had he not come here - and that is us getting value.

"It's not about how much you spend, it's how you spend the money you have got. It's not always about the big sums. Sometimes the best business is done for small fees.

"I look at Andre Gray who is now minimum a #25million to #30million player. He was half a million quid two years ago, so it's not always the amount you spend that is important.

"It's about having an eye for a player, how you value a player and making the right move at the right time and if you can do that you'll reap the rewards."

And Warburton - who shot down reports linking James Tavernier with Turkish outfit Trabzonspor - also stressed alarms bells have not been set ringing at Ibrox by the cash being spent across the city.

"We can't control anything that happens at Celtic or Aberdeen or Hearts or Ross County or the other clubs," he said. "What we can control is what happens here.

"We have our targets in mind and we are very happy with the additions we have already made over this summer.

"We've had great support from the board and if we get these one or two targets we're looking for we'll be delighted. If we don't we'll be more than happy with the squad we have."

Warburton will be even happier now that last term's top scorer Martyn Waghorn has been given a positive prognosis over his hamstring injury.

The forward pulled up suddenly towards the end of last weekend Ladbrokes Premiership opener with Hamilton and the Englishman feared he was looking at a lengthy lay-off.

But the 26-year-old - who missed two-and-a-half months last season with a knee injury - has been told he will need only three weeks at most to make his recovery this time and shared his delight with his Twitter followers when he posted: Good result, not as bad as it could have been. Roughly 2 weeks out, hard work has begun to come back stronger."

That timescale means Waghorn should be back to full fitness in time for his team's trip to Celtic Park on September 10, although Warburton insists no risks will be taken with his star frontman.

He said: "You saw Waggy's reaction straight after the injury. It looked quite severe but the scan is quite pleasing.

"It is a grade one tear which means two to three weeks out, which is good news. It could have been a lot worse.

"It's ifs and buts whether he will make the Old Firm game. Right now he's on the treadmill starting his work with the medical team.

"There is no point pushing him, especially at this stage of the season. If it was the last game of the season you'd look at him but now it is about his long-term welfare."

In the meantime, Waghorn will miss Saturday's trip to Dundee but defenders Danny Wilson and Lee Wallace would be available for the Dens Park clash after missing the midweek cup win over Peterhead with a sickness bug.

Former Accrington pair Josh Windass (hamstring) and Matt Crooks (ankle) have both resumed light training, however.

Gers met Dundee in last season's William Hill Scottish Cup and dished out a 4-0 drubbing to Paul Hartley's side.

But Warburton reckons his side will not have it so easy this weekend.

He said: "We're expecting another tough test. They went away to Ross County and got a great result last weekend and I'm sure Paul and his players would have been delighted with that.

"We know the quality of the challenge facing us. But we will prepare well and give our respect to our opponent as always."