JAMES TAVERNIER last night stressed he has no concerns about the arrival of former Newcastle United team-mate Joey Barton disrupting the harmony of the Rangers squad.

Barton, the former Manchester City, Newcastle, Queens Park Rangers and Marseille midfielder, is poised to sign for the Ibrox club this week after leaving Burnley. The 33-year-old’s talent has never been in doubt but his career has been beset by controversy. He left City after attacking Ousmane Dabo in a training ground incident in 2007 and was sentenced to six months in prison for a separate assault.

A hallmark of Warburton’s Rangers, who on Saturday will attempt to add the William Hill Scottish Cup to the Ladbrokes Championship and Petrofac Training Cup, has been their togetherness.

But right-back Tavernier, who played alongside Barton at St James’ Park as a youngster, is reassured that his manager won’t jeopardise the unity within the Rangers camp, given the success of his signings so far.

“The manager has a great record,” he said. “He’s brought in very good players and has been trusted in the transfer market throughout the country. We all trust him to bring in the right players.

“You don’t want any bad eggs in the camp. But every player the gaffer has brought in has fitted in on and off the field. It’s a very close-knit squad.

“Everyone works hard and wants to be better. We’re all professional athletes on and off the field and we stick together, win or lose.

“The gaffer wants to strengthen and it’ll probably happen this summer. I’ve not played against Jordan Rossiter or the Accrington boys (Matt Crooks and Josh Windass), but once you come here you become fixated with the football we play. It will be interesting."

Tavernier and his Rangers team-mates can secure a place in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League next season if they beat their Championship rivals Hibs at Hampden.

The signing of a vastly experienced player like Barton on a free transfer would certainly increase their chances of securing a place in the group stages.

Tavernier, who played in the Europa League with Newcastle back in the 2012/13 season, would relish the challenge.

The defender said: “Could we cope in Europe? One hundred per cent. We play good football and like to pass the ball around. The team we have would be able to cope with Europe, we have good intensity in the side.

"It’s a different experience playing in the Europa League. There are foreign referees, different players, and new stadiums. It would be a great experience to get there.”

Rangers lost twice to Hibs at Easter Road in the league this season but Tavernier, who previously experienced end-of-season play-offs in League One in England with Rotherham, suspects Alan Stubbs' men may be mentally and physically drained.

“Hibs have obviously played a lot of games,” he said. “I’ve been in play-offs myself and know what it’s like. Every game is like a cup final. You don’t know if they will be mentally drained. We will see.”

Tavernier played in a closed-doors game against a Spurs side in England last week and feels that workout was invaluable to players who had gone more than a week without playing in a competitive fixture.

“The friendly with Spurs was a great test,” he said. “It got the intensity back up. We’ve not really had intensity like that apart from in the Celtic game. To have that before the final was fantastic for us.

“You don’t need any motivation for a Scottish Cup final. The prize is massive and the boys will be raring to go.”

Tavernier added: “At the beginning of the season the objective was to win the league,” he said. “We didn’t expect to get Celtic, we thought that would be next year.

“But our objective is to beat Celtic every time we play them. We have done really well winning the Petrofac Cup on top of promotion and it would be fantastic to top it off with the Scottish Cup.

“We all know that. if we don’t get the result at Hampden, then we will be sitting on our holidays feeling regret. You want to finish the season on a high by winning a trophy.”