MARK WARBURTON has confirmed that Rangers are not the only club he has been staging discussions with as Burnley prepare to enter the race for his services.

The 52-year-old held an "informal meeting" with the Ibrox side over their managerial position, but admits that he has been in touch with at least one other club since leaving Brentford at the end of the season with his assistant manager, David Weir.

He may also find himself the subject of an approach by Burnley, just relegated from the Barclays Premier League, within the next week or so. Their manager, Sean Dyche, is favourite for the vacant manager's role at Sunderland with Warburton known to be on their wishlist should that move go through.

Warburton and Weir, a former Rangers captain, come as a package and are clearly waiting for the right club to come along.

"We have had a couple of informal meetings," he said. "We had an initial, informal meeting (with Rangers) and we will see how it goes from there.

"It's important to see if there's a chemistry, the parties get on and your football philosophies are aligned.

"Any manager would be flattered to be linked with a club like Rangers. The tradition and the history of the club is well-known and there is a global fanbase.

"I am respectful of the fact that Rangers are undoubtedly looking at a number of candidates."

Stuart McCall still hopes to prove he is worthy of a long-term contract at Rangers after failing to win promotion through the play-offs while the Aberdeen manager, Derek McInnes, would also be a natural contender.

Alex McLeish, who won two titles in a four-and-a-half year spell as Rangers manager between 2001 and 2006, is available after leaving the Belgian club KRC Genk, but it is understood he has not received any official approaches from Ibrox as yet.

Warburton insists he knows exactly what is required at Rangers, though, with a quick return to Scottish football's top division and a team capable of rivalling Celtic absolutely essential.

"Rangers and Celtic are the two big teams," he said. "Whoever comes into that seat, the job must be to get them back competing neck-and-neck with Celtic and pushing on from there.

"Whoever comes into that job must appreciate the size of the task in terms of the history of the club and where they have to be.

"This is not just about solidifying and steadying. This is about making progress in a designated period of time.

"I hope very much that we have those attributes, but I am sure many others do as well."

Warburton has also made it clear that he will be particular about the kind of job he takes.

"If people are looking short-term, six to nine months, it is the wrong approach to take," he said.

"Any job that Davie Weir and I would look at would be about going in, having a project and being able to add value to any football club or football department.

"I have to be very respectful as I am sure Rangers have a big search process under way, but the key thing is to clarify expectation. What do the board and owner want from a new manager or a new coaching team?

"What will be the short, medium and long-term targets? You have to look at whether you have the attributes to come in, build the youth, use youth, utilise the current squad and make the necessary changes and prepare a team to make the move forward."

Warburton would also expect clubs, such as Rangers, looking for a new manager to act quickly ahead of the pre-season period.

"Of paramount importance to any club is timing," said Warburton in an interview with BBC Radio Scotland. "The pre-season period is the key time in which you can introduce players and build them into the philosophy and history of the club. It is a very important time.

"I am sure any clubs looking for managers or to make a change will do so in the next two or three weeks."