Mark Warburton confident Rangers will find killer instinct

Rangers boss Mark Warburton has no doubts his side will find their killer instinct ahead of the Scottish Premier League kick-off.

The Ibrox side all but booked their place in the last 16 of the League Cup with a 3-0 win away to minnows East Stirling.

Andy Halliday tucked away a 10th-minute penalty before summer signings Josh Windass and Joe Dodoo opened their Gers accounts.

But, there were a raft of missed chances on the plastic Ochilview pitch, including a Kenny Miller sitter just before the break, while the Light Blues treated the second half like a training-ground kick-about.

Warburton admits his side are still yet to hit full stride but insists there will be no holding them back once they do.

Gers face their final Group F opponents Stranraer on Monday, with their premiership opener at home to Hamilton scheduled for August 6.

He said: ''It could have been more. I've not seen the stats yet but we had a lot of possession. Maybe we could have tested their keeper a bit more, especially in the second half. But we kept trying to do the right thing on a difficult surface against a very willing opponent. You can always talk about scoring more goals but I thought we did a very professional job and now we move on to game four. I would agree that the longer we get into the season the rustiness will ease off and those chances will go in. Against Motherwell last week we could have scored four or five in the second half. It was the same on Tuesday night against Annan and the same here. We're getting in good shape and hopefully on Monday we can finish off with a positive display.''

Windass capped off the positive start to his Ibrox career when he prodded home at the second attempt after 35 minutes, while former Leicester frontman Dodoo marked his first display for Gers with a close-range tap-in after skipper Lee Wallace laid it on a plate for him in stoppage-time.

Warburton said ''I was pleased for Josh and Joe. You saw with Josh he was very willing to get forward. He showed real bravery, composure and technique in the first half. Joe gave us some real pace as well, which is what we wanted to add to the squad. He's very confident in his touch too so I'm delighted for him getting his goal.''

Shire boss John Sludden said: ''In the first half we let the occasion get to us. We knew it was going to be hard with the quality Rangers have but what was disappointing was that we gave it away cheaply when we did have the ball.''