MARK HATELEY offered a veiled criticism of former team-mates Ally McCoist and Stuart McCall by suggesting many of Rangers’ problems last year stemmed from poor preparation on the training ground. Hateley, representing the club at the League Cup draw that saw them paired with Airdrieonians, welcomed the appointment of Mark Warburton and David Weir as the new management team, believing the players already look much fitter ahead of the start of the Ladbrokes Championship season this weekend.

According to Hateley, that stands in stark contrast to last season when, under three different managers – McCoist, McCall and Kenny McDowall – the team often looked “leggy” in matches, a sign they had not been training hard enough during the week.

“The first game I’ve seen this season was Sunday against Peterhead but it was refreshing to see a young, energetic side,” said Hateley. “You would have expected the team to have been super-fit [last season] but they didn’t seem to be and were leggy late on in games. That can only be directed to one area and that is the training ground.

“You don’t have to look at what is happening in training, all you need to look at is what is happening on a Saturday. I have been in the game a long time and you can see from one performance on a Saturday what is happening during the week.

“You can’t get away with a lack of fitness anywhere. That will always let you down somewhere down the line. Fitness is a basic standard of any professional athlete. Once you’re fit everything comes second nature. The ability you’ve got comes out. I go back to the days with Walter Smith and Archie Knox. The hardest pre-season in my whole career ever was always at Rangers because of what was needed for the season.”

Hateley felt that under Warburton and Weir the improvements were already noticeable. “It’s clear to see what Mark and Davie have brought,” he added. “With the fitness levels you can see straight away what is happening Monday to Friday. You put things into place so players know what they do. It goes up on the wall on a Monday – we’re doing this, we’re doing that each day.

“That’s the way forward and it’s the way professional football clubs operate in the top leagues. That’s what Mark is too. He’s ultra professional. He had the same approach at Brentford. He and Davie will bring that with them. Davie is a professional through and through. You could always point the finger at Mark for not being at the level of where Davie has been. But the two working together – two very clever men – is a good recipe for the club going forwards.”