THE limited, in some cases non-existent, knowledge which many of Mark Warburton’s players exhibit of football’s all-time greats underlines just how youthful the squad he has assembled at Rangers is.

Warburton regularly enthuses about the beautiful game’s most legendary figures as he works with his charges on the training ground at Murray Park. Very often, though, his words are met with puzzled looks.

Franz Beckenbauer? What position did he play? Johan Cruyff? Never heard of him. Diego Maradona? Marawho?

“If you ask some of our young boys they won’t know who Maradona is,” he said. “It is depressing. But, listen, they are 18 and they don’t have a handle on that stuff. They weren’t alive when these guys played so they have no idea.

“You can forget Johan Cruyff. They know about The Cruyff Turn, but not about him. That’s the world we live in. The young guys we deal with don’t know what we take for granted.

“I talk to our centre backs about Beckenbauer and the calmness of Beckenbauer. What a player! They just look at you and you know you have to refer to someone more recent. We have got to learn as coaches and managers that we can’t take it for granted that they know who these famous players are.

“I joke with them about watching Brazil - Alan Brazil! I will say: ‘What a player Alan Brazil was!’ But they only know Alan Brazil from TalkSport! You have to appreciate that we are getting older and they are a different breed.

“They don’t know about Rangers’ history, about the 54 Scottish titles the club has won and the great European nights. That’s all new to them.”

Still, Warburton has been encouraged to see how rapidly the new recruits he brought in from England during the summer have accepted the demands on them to win both games and trophies from a support which is, despite the difficulties of the last few years, accustomed to success.

Hibs, who have played one game more than Rangers, moved to within just two points of the Ladbrokes Championship leaders on Tuesday night when they defeated Livingston 2-1 at Easter Road. The battle for the second tier title, and automatic promotion to the top flight, promises to be fierce in the months to come.

The former Brentford manager, whose side return to league action after the international break tomorrow when they travel to West Lothian to take on Livingston, is confident his players will meet the challenge.

“I have been really pleased with the way the boys have taken on board what is expected of them at Rangers,” he said. “Andy Halliday knows. He is a true Rangers fan. It is the likes of Wes (Foderingham) and Rob (Kiernan) and Tav (James Tavernier) and Waggy (Martyn Waghorn) who need to take on board what is needed here.

“These types of guys have to appreciate the size of the club and the history and recognise the responsibility they have got to the fans. We use that all the time. We say: ‘You have got a real responsibility. Enjoy it, but you have got to recognise it’.”

Warburton this week handed Kenny Miller, who turns 36 next month, a 12 month extension to his existing contract in a move which keeps the striker at Rangers until 2017. He believes the vastly-experienced centre forward has an important role to perform in the remainder of this term both as a player and in ensuring his team mates attain the required standards.

“The feedback we get from the likes of Nathan is the one player they’ve learned the most from is training is Kenny Miller,” he said. “The way he applies himself in training every day is intense and that’s the lesson.

“You see one or two ease themselves into training sessions, but not Kenny, Lee Wallace, Dean Shiels. That’s a lesson. The feedback is what an example Kenny has been.

“We’re really young – the average age has gone from 29 to below 23. Jordan Thomson and Gideon Zelalem are 18. Fraser Aird, Nathan Oduwa and Tom Walsh are all 19. Barrie Mackay is 20. They’re a young squad so you need seniority and experience and it comes from the likes of Kenny, Dean and Lee.”

Warburton had hoped to give John Eustace, the former Coventry, Stoke, Watford and Derby County midfielder who has been training with Rangers since the summer, a deal until at least the end of the season. But the 36-year-old has returned to England to deal with a family matter and appears unlikely to feature.

The 53-year-old, who has been told money will be made available to him to strengthen his squad during the January transfer window, will seek to bolster his young squad for the second half of the 2015/16 campaign with more senior personnel

Asked if he would like to add more experience to his squad, he said: “If the right person becomes available, yes. In February and March the heavier pitches, injuries and suspensions all kick in so we’ll have to have a little bit more depth, but not much.”