ANDY Halliday has expressed hope the Rangers board will give Mark Warburton the money he needs to strengthen his squad during the January transfer window and increase the Ibrox club’s prospects of winning promotion.

Warburton, whose side is currently three points clear at the top of the Ladbrokes Championship, has seen bids for Michael O’Halloran of St. Johnstone and Toumani Diagouraga of Brentford rejected in the last fortnight.

The Englishman, who has brought in Harry Forrester and Maciej Gostomski on short-term deals and secured the services of Matt Crooks and Josh Windass from Accrington Stanley on pre-contract agreements, is optimistic he will make new signings soon.

Halliday, who this week committed his future to the club he grew up in Glasgow supporting until 2020, believes Rangers directors should have confidence backing their manager with funds given the success of his summer recruitment drive.

The midfielder is one of several players – Wes Foderingham, Jason Holt, Martyn Waghorn and James Tavernier are the others – who have excelled and established themselves as indispensable members of the first team since being brought in during the close season.

“I hope the club gives him the financial backing to get the players that he wants because I think the players who came in the summer have all done not too bad,” he said. “He has got a pretty good record. I think he has instilled a lot of confidence in a lot of young boys in there.”

Halliday admitted he has been encouraged by the signings Rangers have made since the window opened and also the names they have been linked with and is confident the Ibrox club will be even better in the second half of the 2015/16 campaign.

“I’ve not had a lot of downs this season, but the biggest one was that League Cup game against St Johnstone at Ibrox in September, because I felt going into the game we were very high on confidence, hadn’t lost yet,” he said.

“That was the first time I’d played against Michael O’Halloran and I thought he was very good that day. I trust in what the gaffer is trying to do, he’s already brought in some good players. If he sees enough in Michael to bring him here, we’ll welcome him with open arms.

“One of my best friends is Kal Naismith and I went to see him play for Accrington Stanley a couple of times last year. The two boys we’ve signed stood out the most.

“I played against the boy at Brentford we’ve been linked with, too, and he’s another good player. It’s all exciting times. Hopefully the gaffer gets the finances to bring in the boys he wants.

“Competition is healthy and is expected at a club of this stature, especially when we’re trying to get back to the top league. We’re going to need that bit more competition in the squad. Hopefully these boys come in and boost our journey.”

Rangers can, with Falkirk and Hibs playing each other at Westfield on Sunday, move further ahead of one or even both of their nearest challengers in the Championship this weekend if they defeat Livingston at Ibrox this afternoon.

The form Hibs had been displaying before their 4-2 defeat to Rangers at Ibrox last month – they had been on an impressive 17 game unbeaten run in all competitions – had been concerning the league leaders according to their manager Alan Stubbs.

Halliday, though, revealed he had no idea the second and third-placed teams in the second tier were playing each other. That suggests the midfielder and his team mates are, as they have consistently maintained, focusing on themselves and not worrying about those around them.

“I didn’t even know they were playing on Sunday so that shows you how much attention I’ve paid to it,” he said. “One of them is going to drop points, so we’ll see who it is on Sunday.

“Fair play to Hibs, they’re obviously playing well. But they’re the ones who have to worry about us, because they’re playing catch-up. Like I said, I can’t give them enough credit, they’re picking up a lot of results. But, if we keep picking up enough points, we will look after ourselves.”

Having stood on terraces and sat in stands cheering on Rangers as a boy, Halliday knows all about the huge demands supporters place on the players at Ibrox.

However, he is ambitious himself and has heady goals for the next four years – securing promotion to the top flight, winning the Scottish Cup, wresting the Premiership trophy away from Celtic and competing in Europe.

“We have got our own aims, but the main thing is to back in the Premiership next season,” he said. “But at the end of the day we are still in the Scottish Cup and we have got to go and try and win that as well.

“The most important thing for the club is to be back in the Premiership next year. I would like to think that over the next four years we would be back in Europe and challenging for titles because at the end of the day those are the demands at this football club.

“I know certain Rangers fans that I’m friends with who try to look at the positives. They’d never seen Rangers play at Annan, they’d never seen Rangers play in Berwick. So they wanted to tick them off their list.

“But let’s be honest, they’ll be getting bored with this after four or five years of it. We just want to get back where we belong – and that first Premiership title we win is going to be all the sweeter.

“But there are some very good teams in the top flight, teams we need to overcome. We are on our own little journey at the moment and hopefully we continue to get better and better. But I see a lot of potential in that squad.

“I think it’s the youngest squad in Scotland. For the next four-and-a-half years, I’ll enjoy seeing everyone around me getting better and better.”