MARK Warburton last night insisted Rangers will be able to challenge for the Scottish title next season if they can bring in “three to five players” despite the heavy defeat his side suffered to Premiership rivals St. Johnstone this week.

Warburton’s team slumped to a 3-1 loss in their first game against top flight opposition in a League Cup third round fixture at Ibrox on Tuesday evening.

The Englishman – who had won his first 11 competitive outings as manager prior to the meeting with the Perth club - has defended both his players and his tactics in the wake of the disappointing reverse.

And he concurred with the comments which Dave King, the Ibrox chairman and major shareholder, made in an interview earlier this month.

The South Africa-based businessman claimed Rangers would be able to compete with the likes of Aberdeen and Celtic next season with only minimal additions to the existing squad.

“You can say: 'You are miles away from them',” said Warburton. “I don’t think so. Yes, Tuesday night was a harsh lesson. But I’m rational. There’s no panic from our side and no lack of confidence. If we learn from it, we’ll be better for it.

“I think we are in good shape right now. We are not a bad team. We’re a decent team. I still think that the gap from Championship to Premiership is way tighter up north than down the road purely because of the money.

“I stick by that. If I’m wrong, I’ll hold my hand up. But I think it’s very hard to disagree with that. I just don’t think the gap is as vast as some people are making out. You had Hibs beating Aberdeen and Morton beating Motherwell this week.

“Before Tuesday, we had conceded very few goals and were in good shape. It was one game for us the other night and, even though you never want to lose a game of football, I think we’ll be better for it.”

Asked if he agreed with King’s assessment of the current Rangers squad, Warburton said: “I’ve read the articles with Mr King’s comments and we’re in close communication. I think we probably need three to five players.

“You can lose players. There are different scenarios; you can have players taken from you if bids come in, you can have injured players and others whose contracts are up. We might be looking for three next year or looking for seven.

“With the squad right now, we have a number of players who can step up, but we’d like to add two or three definitely for more depth.”

Meanwhile, Warburton, whose side take on Morton at Cappielow in the Championship tomorrow, has stressed that Rangers will persist with their brand of attacking football despite their defeat to St. Johnstone.

Many pundits and supporters believe the 4-3-3 formation the former Brentford manager fielded for the visit of the McDiarmid Park club was partially to blame for their cup exit.

“I’ve been asked whether I can restore our confidence and belief,” he said. “But we’d won 11 out of 11 before Tuesday and we’re now top of the league so I don’t think that confidence is something that needs to be restored.

“Individual errors cost us. I don’t think that anyone in their right mind could look at our squad and say that they lack belief.

"It’s been suggested that I change our formation, but we’ve played 12 games and won 11 so I’m not going to change.

"Players are competitive and they don’t want to lose at tiddlywinks, never mind a game of football. We need to work on the things we learned from the St Johnstone game and practise them so that they won’t happen again.”

Warburton continued: “We might go 3-4-3 or 3-5-2. We’ll make changes within the framework. If you look at the way our full-backs play, you could say we play 2-5-3 as it is.

"But we have to get the balance right because we put pressure on our two centre-backs and our holding midfielder. We demand a lot of them and, up until Tuesday, they’d been great."

Warburton confirmed that he hoped to offer John Eustace, the former Watford and Derby County midfielder who has been on trial at Murray Park since the summer, a permanent deal in the near future when he recovers from a knee injury.

“John is just going through his rehab,” he said. “But he is working tirelessly. Hopefully he’s not too far away. He will be a welcome addition. I have got no doubts about the quality he will bring to us. He is very familiar in that (holding midfielder) position.

“I know the value that he brings now when he’s not playing. If you ask any of the players, ask Andy Halliday for example, Tom Walsh, Jordan Thompson or even Dean Shiels, his talking and mentoring have been important.

“John has played at the highest level. He has lots of experience to pass on. If John was turning up here and going home at two o’clock and doing nothing else then there would be a question mark. But John has brought a lot to the camp already without even playing.

"The fact that David Weir has him out on the pitch warming up with the players and talking to the players tells you that he is invaluable to us. So if there is a role there for John then all well and good. But right now there is no other vision for John than being a player for Rangers.”