MARK WARBURTON “can’t imagine” Rangers ever playing on an artificial pitch at Ibrox and cast doubts over Ronny Deila’s claim that he would be happy for one to be installed at Celtic. In the latest episode of what has become something of a long-running saga, the Rangers manager also labelled Deila “disrespectful” for suggesting those, like Warburton, who do not like synthetic surfaces held “very old fashioned” views.

Warburton remains unconvinced by the suitability of plastic pitches at elite level, and can’t envisage either Rangers or Celtic ever going down that road. “I can't ever imagine that would happen,” on the prospect of the grass ever being lifted at Ibrox. “I saw Ronny's comments about [the possibility of an artificial surface being installed at] Parkhead - I would be absolutely staggered that they would do that. If they do, that's their choice, nothing to do with me. But I just think that number one is a good grass pitch so you get the right surface. You look at them down south - it adds so much to the quality of the product.”

Warburton also felt installing an artificial pitch equated to “accepting second best”. “If he [Deila] has said that about it being an old-fashioned view, then it's disrespectful because I always say that everyone has their own opinion. But if there's one line in what he said it was that number one is a good grass surface and number two is a good artificial surface.

“His words were that number one is a good grass pitch. If you're prepared to accept second best and take a cheaper option then go and get a good artificial pitch. But any player and coach will tell you, you cannot beat a top quality grass pitch. And the fact that we haven't got enough of them is a damning indictment and we have got to find a way of doing it. Instead of sitting here and saying, “it's financial, we can't afford it” how can we do it? Whatever it is, we have got to find a way of improving grass pitches at the highest level.”

Hibernian’s surprise defeat to Morton on Tuesday night has strengthened Rangers’ position at the top of the Ladbrokes Championship. Despite harvesting an eight-point lead with just 11 matches remaining, Warburton, unsurprisingly, was not for admitting the title was all but won. He did, however, back his players to show the requisite mental strength to deal with the mounting pressure during the run-in.

“I have no doubt they will do that, “he added. “There will be pressure on them - every time they play for Rangers they’re expected to win. We have 50,000 fans who demand it. But they’ve shown already that they’ve been first class in their approach, commitment and delivery of performance.

“Character won't be an issue, there will never be a lack of work ethic. There will be days when they can't pass water, but that's just human nature. They absolutely play for the jersey. What they recognise now is the weight of the jersey in terms of the expectation. It's enjoying that weight of expectation. If you thrive on it, you will be in a good place. If you can't handle it, then you won't be here for very long.

“All they have got to do is focus, come in tomorrow and be better than they were yesterday. If they can do that and avoid the hype - and I'm not saying it is easy to avoid it because this is a passionate football city – then they will be fine. Look at the Hibs game [on December 28] and the expectation there, a must-win game and all that. Look how they handled it. They delivered a level of performance which was first class. Every time Ibrox is packed I know the players respond to it.”

Warburton believes the old-school mentality of motivating players through fear and verbal abuse no longer works. “There is generally no shouting and screaming from me,” he added. “They aren’t that type of group of players and we haven’t managed them that way. They recognise and know the standards. They’ve come in at half-time in games and said ‘that’s not good enough, that wasn’t Rangers,’ and that’s great. It’s music to our ears. Even in training if it dips even slightly they demand more and I think that’s when you know you’re in a good place. The market – I always seem to refer to football as ‘the market’ – is changing. The mentality of players is changing. Youngsters coming out of academies and schools are different. Go back 30 years and you could shout and scream, but those days are gone. I don’t think players respond to that. You hear more and more how players like an arm around the shoulder.”

- Tickets for Rangers’ Player of the Year awards dinner at the Hilton Glasgow on Sunday April 24 are available from 0871 702 1972 (option 2), hospitality@rangers.co.uk or the Rangers website