Rangers could bring in Windass and Crooks six months early

Rangers will try to land Accrington Stanley pair Josh Windass and Matt Crooks six months early after preparing a £400,000 double swoop, Clyde Sport understands.

The midfield duo are on their way north and will have medicals with the Championship leaders early on Wednesday afternoon.

Both men are out of contract at the end of the season and are now free to negotiate pre-contracts with Gers.

But Ibrox boss Mark Warburton is keen to see the pair join up with his squad right away as the Light Blues look to push ahead in the promotion race.

Windass - son of former Aberdeen and Hull striker Dean - and Crooks have already agreed terms but the timing of the move now hinges on Accrington owner Andy Holt.

He has already hit out at Gers' handling of the situation but faces losing both players for a compensation sum of around just £30,000 each should they move in the summer.

The Glasgow giants hope an increased fee will persuade the Sky Bet League Two side to release the players early, otherwise they will wait until their current deals expire.

But Holt is furious his club is in danger of missing out on a potentially lucrative windfall, with cross-border compensation levels a fraction of the fees due between clubs in the same country.

He told the Lancashire Telegraph: "It's ridiculous. We could lose them for free and Rangers could resell them and take any profit. They could sell them back to England if they wanted to.

"Because they're getting them for free they can offer wages that other team can't offer.

"It's not about the lads' rights to earn a living, I respect that and I like them. It's about what's right and what's wrong.

"They've come a long way at this club, since they've been at Accrington it's transformed them. I don't like the way the rules are set out.

"I don't like the way Rangers have gone about this, not picking the phone up to (Accrington manager) John Coleman. It's not illegal but it's not the way it should be done.''

Windass, 21, was watched by Arsenal earlier this season and has netted 11 goals in 25 appearances for Accrington this term. Crooks, also 21, can play in defence as well as midfield and has seven goals to his name from 24 outings this season.

Warburton has made a swift start to his January transfer dealings after signing up Doncaster winger Harry Forrester and ex-Lech Poznan goalkeeper Maciej Gostomski on six-month deals.